Silent (old version)
by Zilkenian
Summary: Spy, as his usual nosisy-noise self, must get every tiny piece of information from every single human being living in both bases. So a new Sniper in his team kind of gets his attention, specially when he discovers his little secret.
1. Unexpected outcome

**This is something I had sitting in my computer for some time, unfinished, and today I decided to finish while I gather more ideas for paranormal Fortress 2.**

 **Is not a finished story yet, but I guess I could write it in the moments I have no inspiration for Paranormal Fortress 2. This one is more about a very silent Sniper and a very ball-touching Spy (pardon the expression). I wonder if they'll kill each other or not...**

...

It was a peaceful morning, if with 'peaceful' you can describe a lot of gunshots, explosions, etc etc. But the morning was all sunny and shiny and he was hugging a dispenser for dear life. Yes, the all mighty, please don't step on my shadow, I could get your mother in less than a second, proud and handsome Spy was hugging a dispenser while Engineer was having the time of his life laughing his soul off while seeing the amazing Spy sitting in his nest. Now that was a sight nobody would want to miss: Spy was burned, shot, and his left arm probably needed a bit more than a dispenser, but his face was priceless showing the expression of a man who's pride was probably crying in the corner.

"So...let me get this straight. You got burned by Pyro, who went after you, but then you came across Soldier, who tried to make you explode, and then their Sniper got your left arm, and still, you managed to survive all that only to fall on your face because you tripped with their Medic? I'm sorry Spy but...that's just a whole lot of bad luck"

"You don't say..."

Engie had to chuckle a bit at that tone in Spy's voice. It was the sort of tone someone uses when he got more than wanted in the worst scenario. He was upgrading his dispenser a bit so Spy could heal faster, he was there to help his team over anything else of course, when he saw another sight he would have never expected to see. Pyro was running towards them, carrying a wounded Sniper. Bullet in the stomach, now that had to sting. Pyro sat Sniper down next to the dispenser, much to Spy's happines, because he wasn't the only one receiving the weight of shame. Sniper was always a solitaire man who would never socialize, even outside of the fight; and there he was, needing help from a team mate to make it to the dispenser. In other words: priceless.

Spy's smile went from ear to ear while Pyro was informing Engineer about the situation in the battlefield. Apparently BLU got another point with the bomb, and they were running out of ground. Engie had two options: either stay there, hidden near the last point and hold the other team, or move onto a more advanced point, at least with his sentry. He saw both men recovering next to his dispenser. He could ask them to go through Respawn, but everyone knew how bad was to go through that experience; asking that was like asking them to dive head first into a pit of nightmares. Respawn had the bad habit of needing to reebot a few of your memories in order to recover your brain, so you had to go through things from your past you didn't want to remember.

"Pyro, could you come with me to see if I can place my sentry somewhere else while these two get healed?"

With a thumbs up from the firebug, Engie got his guns and followed Pyro, leaving Spy and Sniper alone in the nest. Spy wasn't exactly okay with the 'staying alone with Sniper' thing, but he didn't have a choice. He glanced over to the other man and saw his eyes were closed and he had some trouble breathing. Spy then looked at the part where Sniper's back was touching the dispenser and realized blood wasn't pouring on that side, which meant the bullet didn't go through clean, but was still lodged inside the man's stomach. Feeling better with the contraption's fumes, Spy got closer to Sniper, knife in hand, in the same moment the taller man was opening his eyes upon hearing sounds around him. He then saw Spy approaching him with a knife in hand and of course, his first reaction was to try and counter attack, but realized his body was numb and unable to move from waist down. His arms quickly reacted as well, but one had to be used for support, which left him with one arm to defend himself, quickly held by Spy.

"Stay quiet bushman, I'm trying to help, even if you don't know the mean of the word. Now stay still or I'll do more damage than needed"

Sniper saw the place the knife was going, and then saw the bullet wound in his stomach. His mind quickly did the math and realized what was going on: the bullet was still inside and, for God knew what, Spy was going to take it out. Sniper didn't like the situation one bit, but he couldn't move a lot anyway, so if the other man wanted to help him by either taking the bullet out or finishing him off he would have to stand still and hold his pride. Seeing Sniper didn't try to get away, Spy got to work, carefully inserting the knife inside the wound. It made then bullet hole bigger, but that would take the small piece of metal out. Sniper's body instantly tensed, but no sound came from the man, so Spy took it as a cue to continue, and while he knew the dispenser took half of the pain away, the procedure was still painful nonetheless.

Upon touching something solid inside the wound the Spy maneuvered with the knife and soon the bullet was coming out from the wound. Lucky for them, the dispenser had been upgraded before Engie left, so the wound started to close inmediately. Spy decided to put some ground between himself and the Sniper, just in case the other man wanted him death after that. The fact was this Sniper was their newest member, and none of them knew how he would react if anyone tried to come in contact with him, less to hurt him. Any normal person would be angry but at least grateful; maybe this man would cleanly cut his head off and be on his merry way. Either way, Spy wasn't prepared for Sniper's answer.

In an instant, a lot of questions were answered with a simple gesture. Once Sniper regained enough senses to look at the Spy, in probably an unconscious way, Sniper touched his chin and then moved his hand forward with a quick movement, before regreeting it and looking away, but the truth had been shown, and Spy got the hint all too well. He knew what that gesture meant, at least what it resembled to. Of course, in America he saw it been done in another way, instead of the chin it started with the hand on the lips, but the movement afterwards was the same. It was a thank you. A silent thank you.

Spy's eyes widden at the realitzation, and he went a bit closer to the other man. He couldn't help but feel sorry, even if he didn't know where the feeling was coming, probably human natural reaction upon seeing someone who doesn't have one of the five basic senses, or at least, the sound of one of them.

"Y-you're..."

Sniper looked at him, his face clearly showing distress for the situation, hidden by the best try at a serious face. He wanted it a secret, and Spy, of all of them, knew it because he slipped. Yes, he was mute, and since his job didn't require the voice for anything special, TF Industries didn't have a problem in hiring him, but now the snake knew and would probably use it to blackmail him. Before Spy could say anything else, and with his wound almost healed, Sniper stood up and ran away, probably towards his own nest to retrieve his weapons and get back to work, leaving Spy on hiw own thoughts. The french man soon took a hold of himself. He had work to finish and Sniper's lack of voice would have to wait for later, so he stood up, refreshed and healed, and was about to go when he saw Engie coming back, followed by Pyro.

"Hey Spy! We need your help with their Engineer! He set up a sentry next near the bomb and our team can't get any closer to defend the damn thing"

Spy straightened his jacket and nodded, cloaked and went off to get that sentry nest. As he ran towards the place where the BLU Engineer was he couldn't help but look around, trying to find where Sniper could be after being healed. Once he reached the spot, he hid behind a wall and disguissed himself as their Scout, who wasn't around at the moment, and saw the blue level three sentry beeping and aiming around, ready for any RED that would come too close and into it's range. BLU Engineer was proudly standing behind the machine, next to the dispenser, and Spy took it as his cue to make a stellar apparition as the talking brat.

"Yo Engie! I need some ammo over here!"

The other man's answer was clearly annoyance but he nodded anyways, and Spy got closer to the dispenser. Now that was irony, being extra-healed from the enemy dispenser right after being saved by hiw own team's dispenser. This was starting to look more like a board game, and his move had to happen soon, or the Engineer would start to suspect. What to do first? Kill the man and sap the sentry, or the other way around?

Spy was trying to decide which one do first when a burst of blood came his way, getting on his all perfect and disguissed face and suit. When he looked towards the Engineer he saw the man's corpse falling onto the ground, knees first, and only then he noticed the red laser dot on his own chest. Looking up a bit he saw the Sniper on top of some sort of wooden tower, lowering the rifle a bit. Spy darkly chuckled, and seeing the other man was still seeing him through the scope, he made the 'thanks' gesture Sniper did before. He then proceeded to sap everything and flee from the scene while his team came barreling down the path, getting around the cart and shooting all BLUs that came too close.

The rest of the battle was something quite boring for the Spy, since after he sapped the whole BLU's nest his team anchored themselves in that spot and even Engie, their Engie, got his nest nearby to take down anyone who tried to get them through a backdoor, so all Spy did was get a few easy backstabs and nothing else. His curiosity, however, was at full power, ready to learn more about, what the heck, the first mute team mate he ever had, and a Sniper nonetheless! If Snipers weren't weird and hard to read enough, this one didn't have much to say for himself.

Once the battle ended Spy decided to go and check on Engie to, at least, thank him for upgrading the dispenser for them before leaving but when he arrived to the spot he found Sniper around as well, probably for the same. Of course, the other man couldn't just simply say thanks his way because Engie would either realize what was going on or just don't understand him, so Spy decided to get a kick out of this one and step in front of the Sniper before the taller man could do anything.

"My dear friend Engineer, this bushman here and I would like to thank you for kindly upgrading the dispenser before leaving. We know you probably had to do it anyways, but it healed us faster, so thank you"

That took Engie completely by surprise, and the only thing he was able to do was nod a 'you're welcome' before Spy went on his merry way towards the base. He didn't miss the murderous look Sniper launched his way but he ignored it. Spy continued on his way towards the base, ignoring the other man. Once he entered the building he found some of his team already inside, celebrating the day's victory by sitting around and chatting about the kills each one did during the course of the fight. Spy prefered to get himself locked in his private room, where he could scheme all day long and look for information about the enemy or his own team. Once he reached the room he took off his jacket, loosened his tie and unbuttoned the first button of his shirt, took a glass and his oh so perfect wine, and went towards his armchair to get some quality time with his brain, when he saw the Sniper's van outside through the window.

Spy stopped, glass and bottle in hand and looked at the small, cramped, sorry little thing Sniper probably called home, and where the man spent all his time between fights, with a small fire next to it and Sniper sitting on a garden chair close by, cleaning his weapons in a way that made the Spy stood there and watch. The way Sniper cleaned his kukri was cautious and professional, not like one of those so called assassins that in reality were just brutes with guns. No, Sniper had his own classy way to do things, maybe a bit too wild for the Spy's taste, but out of the ordinary anyways. He kept staring at the other man down the field when all of sudden Sniper stood up and went towards the base. Spy's curiosity was getting the best of him, but he decided to remain in the same place. It actually paid off, for around ten minutes later (took him long enough to get there), there was a knock on his door.

"Yes?"

Of course he knew the other man couldn't answer him, but he wanted for the him to gain the access to his private room. There was another knock, faster this time, and Spy repeated the same question. He was having a kick out of the situation, and couldn't help but chuckle at the silent sigh on the other side of the door. He was curious as to why would Sniper go to his room, specially when the man barely set a foot inside the building, but this amused him enough to wait some more. However, the taller man wasn't as stupid as he would give him credit for, and soon enough a small paper slid under the door. Spy went to pick it up, and he heard the impatient food moving on the other side.

Unfolding the paper, Spy found one sentence:

'Will you keep the secret?'

"Interesting...you know how to write bushman"

There was a silent 'huff' on the other side, and Spy unlocked the door and opened it, revealing a quite distressed Sniper, clenching his hands into fists, waiting for an answer. For Spy, that was just funny: seeing a man with no social skills trying to make him keep a secret; priceless. Of course he would keep the secret, he always wanted something to blackmail others, but this time he could straight-forward get something he usually couldn't, so why waste the oportunity?

"I will, for now"

Sniper looked at him with some dread in his eyes. Spy rolled his eyes.

"Look bushman, that's classified information, and you just gave it away, and to me. I just picked it and kept it, so for now, I won't tell a soul, but...well, if I need something from you..." Spy grinned.

Sniper's answer was a very, very angry glare. He wanted to beat the man to pieces so bad, but after going through Respawn he would just go and tell everyone. Maybe if he took him outside Respawn's reach, kill him and then feign innocence? That would be good, at least for the karma.

"In fact, I do need something from you. I've seen everything in both bases except one place..."

Sniper looked at him, trying to cut the nasty frog of a man with his gaze. If only that could happen...

"Your van"

The taller man froze in place, not being able to react to what the Spook just said. His van? Heeeeell NO! He would never allow anyone but himself enter into his sacred place. Then again, Spy had him by the nuts with the whole mute thing going on. If he accepted he would allow Spy to take a look at his private heaven and get even more information about him, but if he declined then the frog-man would and tell the world he wasn't allowed by nature to speak. All in all there wasn't a good outcome for the man.

Sniper silently sigued and hold one finger up, to which Spy inmediately recognized as 'okay, but only once'. His answer came out into a malicious grin. He only needed one time to recollect a lot of information about his new teammate, besides, he didn't want to spent too much inside the messy little van Sniper owned with so much pride.

"Alright then, lead the way mon ami"

Sniper have him a shocked look, as if 'NOW?!', but had to comply. He was between the sword and the wall, and he couldn't do anything but play along until the other man had enough to keep his word. He turned around and started walking towards the exit of the base, followed by Spy, who locked his own room before going after the taller man. Once outside he saw the sun was already setting, and his team was still yelling and celebrating, so nobody would even bother to look for them, since both men prefered to stay away from everyone else.

Sniper was the first one to step inside the van, leaving the door opened for the masked man to get inside as well. There was enough space for them to stand, maybe one of the sit on the floor, but that was it. The van was quite small, but much to Spy's surprise, quite ordered and clean. If he left aside the amount of trophies that probably belonged to animals at some point, all of them displaying their glory in a shelf, Spy could assure that place belonged to a normal, non assassin and not crazy man. He had to admit, as filthy as the bushman looked, he was able to keep the place at least clean in the limit of normal human life.

"Well well...is rather unexpected you can be this civilized, bushman"

The other's man answer came in a silent growl, only noticed by the air passing through his clenched teeth. Spy could notice Sniper was in and out of his comfort zone in that moment at the same time: 'in' because the van, 'out' because of him. The suited man decided to sit on the small couch behind the table and make himself comfortable on it.

"Well, you have a guest in here, won't you offer him anything?"

Sniper glared daggers at him but did it anyways. He served a glass of orange juice to the frenchman. The other couldn't help but be amused at the offer.

"My my, Sniper, don't you have anything else? Oh, I forgot, you lack of voice is not your worst trait, but your lack of class. In fact, the first one is an improvement"

Sniper's fists clenched to a point where his knuckles went white. Spy knew he was pulling the beast's tail a bit too much by that point, so he resumed in taking the orange juice and drink it. It was actually pretty good, not the best, but better than other he had drank in the base, brought to them by the company. Maybe the man had his own supply of orange juice, or maybe he went into town every now and then to buy it. Still, he maintained his face in his usual superior smirk.

"Thank you. So, to the point. You know as Spy I love knowing things from others..."

Sniper flinched at that. He knew Spy wouldn't just go with being in his van but ask a lot more from him. He sat on the bed at the end of the van, looking at him, waiting for the worse to happen: being asked about his life. Spy smiled at him, crossing his finger under his chin to support it. He took a moment to drink in Sniper's distress before speaking.

"So...what is your favourite type of food?"


	2. Cold and silent

**Well, finally second chapter of this lil' trip. Againt thanks to Terminal Nostalgia for her patience in fixing all this mess :D.**

...

Sniper blinked twice. Had he heard correctly? Of all questions, Spy was asking about his favourite type of food? He looked away, thinking about the question. If the man was only going to ask simple a things like that and then go away, Sniper would give him the answers, as long as he didn't go for the more personal aspects of his life. Taking a notebook and a pencil he always kept around in a drawer, Sniper wrote down the answer, noticing that the other man wasn't making any sound, just patiently waiting. Soon after Spy received the notebook from the mute man, and taking it Spy saw only one word.

"Meat," he read out loud. "Well bushman, that narrows it down" he said, looking at the man in the eyes.

Sniper sighed in annoyance. He really didn't have a favourite food, and meat was the closest thing to favourite he had. If the frenchman wanted anything else he could wait all day long, because Sniper didn't have any other answers.

Spy decided to attack another spot, but what he could ask now? The thing was, he already had a lot of information on the mute man. Spy knew he enjoyed living alone by the lack of photos (he only had one, and they were probably his parents), aside from the fact that he was living outside the base in his own van. He was very independent, used to taking care of himself if the first-aid kit he had lying around under the bed, and the fact that he almost never visited Medic to heal minor injuries. Also, he was not the neatest of men, but there was an order to his mess r: while things were scattered around the van, none of them were out of place and all of them were grouped by type.

This man was a strange mixture of mysterious and obvious at the same time, and Spy loved it.

"So if I gave you, let's say...frog legs, would you eat them?"

He watched Sniper give it a thought and then nod. Well at least he knew he could invite the bushman over for a dinner, but that didn't solve anything.

Spy noticed that Sniper was getting a bit tense, tapping his pen against the table, over the awkward silence, perhaps a step in another direction would make the man feel confident enough to reveal more little details. In fact, Spy didn't need any of this information, but his natural curiosity about others always made him want to gather every last bit of personal information he could

"Well, I can see you're as interesting as a big rock painted in RED." Sniper frowned in annoyance. "But your mutism makes up for the rest. I can see you're like most of the other Snipers, but you have little details that make you different, lack of voice aside." Spy leaned back on the couch, cigarette in hand. "So, I'm guessing your favourite color is brown. I barely see any other colors in this place, but what I don't know is...why did you join this useless war? Money? Amusement?".

Sniper looked away, not in worry or shame, but in a thoughtful way. He'd asked himself the same question many times., The easy answer was money, but something in him said otherwise. Money had been the initial temptation that drew him in, but once he'd joined the war and discovered that Respawn could bring back anyone, something else deep inside of him had woken up, stretching its metaphorical arms. Maybe it was true he was crazy? That he needed to headshot other men, needed to see how their heads exploded in a red mist, in order to feel a tinge of satisfaction?

The shadow in his gaze didn't escape Spy's eyes. Sniper was having doubts about such a simple answer, like the man was fighting against himself to give the proper one. Maybe the question wasn't that simple, maybe Spy had been too quick to judge the man in front of him.

"I also can see you're very patient." Sniper looked up at him, surprised. "You can't kick me out of here because of our deal, but you are certainly taking this better than expected. You didn't even try to punch me in the face, or look murderous at me. You're either a very well tempered man or a highly stupid one who has no clue about what's going in here." Sniper rolled his eyes. "I'll take the first option then. Well..." Spy stood up,Sniper's eyes following him. "It's late and I want some time to myself. Don't worry, I have other things to ask you to do for me, but for today I'll take my leave".

Spy walked to the door waving his hand, and left, leaving Sniper alone with his thoughts. Once back in his private room, Spy picked up his glass of wine from earlier and took a sip for a job well done. A new teammate was always fun to mess with, but a silent one? The amount of jokes he could make out of that! Besides, eventually the secret would be known to everyone even without his help; Sniper couldn't keep up his silent demeanor forever with the excuse of 'being a quiet man'.

He went to the window and glanced down at the van, which had the lights on but no activity from the outside. The man probably locked the door and called it a day, Spy was sure he wouldn't come for dinner.

Spy smiled, and closed the curtains.

...

The fight the next day started off as usual: the nine men running out from the resupply room towards the first point, setting up all possible defenses before BLU was able to get out of their room. Engineer was busy setting up a dispenser and sentry, Medic was building his uber with Heavy and Soldier, Demoman was setting a bunch of very well placed sticky bombs while Pyro was observing the flames of his own flamethrower; Scout was running here and there and Spy was behind a rock, already cloaked. Sniper was nowhere to be seen. He was probably already perched in a high spot, ready to headshot anyone who came out of the BLU Respawn. Spy smirked at the thought of a chicken looking Sniper in his nest waiting for any worm to pass by, and that already gave him a good feeling to start the day.

Once the countdown reached zero, chaos reigned. The BLU team burst out, screaming like animals, their Medic activating his uber on the BLU Heavy to take on Engineer's sentry. The only thing the man could do was try and repair his sentry under an onslaught of bullets .

Pyro took that as his cue to airblast the ubered pair away, but soon died once the BLU Heavy focused his attack on him. Still, that made them waste their uber flying around.

Spy took the opportunity to backstab the pair and give Engie time to repair his nest. A moment later he spotted his BLU counterpart running away from the rest of the team. Only then he realise that any BLU who didn't take cover were dropping like flies. Spy smirked. So Sniper was actually being useful. Spy decided to follow his counterpart to see what might happen.

Sniper had learnt fast that if you stayed in one place long enough, the enemy would find you, so he had decided to change his spot every few shots. .

He'd picked a lower place than the last after he had landed three shots, and now he was focusing on the BLU Engineer and his struggles to set up a teleporter when he heard a faint sound of footsteps going up the stairs that led to his hiding spot.

Taking his kukri out, body tensing in anticipation, Sniper stood up and took cover behind the wall next to the window, just in case the enemy Sniper was looking for him. The steps grew closer, but he couldn't see any sign of anyone, which meant the BLU snake was cloaked. But when sight failed he could use sound. Sniper closed his eyes and focused on those footsteps, light and barely audible, but faster than he expected. Soon they were in the same room as him. And then they stopped.. BLU Spy was probably wondering why RED Sniper was leaning against a wall with his eyes closed, kukri in hand, but that moment of confusion didn't last long. Soon, Sniper heard the footsteps slinking around the edge of the room, avoiding taking a straight trail towards him. He felt the temptation to turn his head to the right, where the footsteps were approaching, but kept himself from doing so. That would give away the fact that he knew exactly where the BLU snake was coming from. He kept his steady posture, looking almost like a statue.

And then he heard it, the cloaking device deactivating, revealing a blue, suited figure next to him. Sniper knew he didn't need to keep his eyes closed, so he opened them to see his enemy on the right side of him, a few steps away from where he was.

The BLU had a stoic expression on his face, shadowed by the doubt he was feeling. Should he attack the bushman now or wait for him to do anything? Time was quite precious in this war, so he decided to try and make Sniper the nervous one.

"My, my bushman, are you that astonished to see me? Am I that handsome?"

Sniper rolled his eyes, but kept his gaze on the enemy. Still, he didn't say anything. "I guess I am, handsome enough to shock you into silence, anyway. Well then, let's see how your fighting skills speak for you..." BLU Spy added, moving into an elegant fighting pose, with his knife pointed at Sniper. Sniper responded with a more basic stance, but one that had it's own kind of rough elegance to it. but still keeping some elegance in it. BLU Spy raised an eyebrow, surprised by the fact that the bushman had some manners in him.

Sniper took the first step and attacked the BLU Spy straight away. The other man saw it coming, and threw himself to the side, turning around and evading the blade. He then kept going behind the bushman, keeping a safe distance between them. "That was rather clumsy on your part monsieur."

Sniper smiled and turned around, launching his kukri towards the masked man. The BLU Spy dodged to the left, avoiding the incoming kukri, which wedged itself in the wall behind him with a _thunk_. Well that had been unexpected, but he regained his senses fast enough to see the taller man coming at him again, fist first. Avoiding the punch, Spy took his opportunity to slam his knee up into Sniper's stomach, making the other stagger forward, grabbing his abdomen. Spy took a few steps back, getting his knife ready to end this with a backstab when, to his surprise, Sniper quickly recovered and retrieved his kukri from the wall.

Now they were face to face, both armed and ready to kill the other. Spy smirked in delight; duels like this were the type of things that made the war so much more interesting for him.

"Well bushman...shall we?"

He launched himself forward, knife in hand. Sniper swung his his kukri up in front of himself, but that only made the balisong change its course. Instead of his chest, it slashed across his face, leaving a cut that swept across the edge of his nose, cheek and ear. Sniper took a few steps back, touching the left side of his face and then looking at the blood on his hand. BLU Spy watched the whole scene with interest: was the Sniper going to cry or get scared after such a small cut like that? If that happened, then he would put him out of his misery in seconds.

He was about to to make a scathing remark along those lines when he was forced to swallow his words. Sniper lifted his head slowly, his eyes focusing on the masked man, but something was different in them. Before, Spy had seen anger and annoyance in them, but now...now they were devoid of anything but a dark, cold expression. Without being able to stop himself, Spy took a step back, but soon regained his composure. Anger was creeping up on him. How dare the bushman look at him like that?

But the change of expression didn't affect Sniper. He kept his composure, his hand slowly falling to his side, still covered in blood. Spy decided to make the first move and finish this nonsense once and for all. He dived forward again, his knife poised to slash across the bushman's eyes. But even with all the force he put into the attack, his arm was stopped by Sniper's hand. Slowly, and with a strength Spy never imagined, Sniper pulled Spy's arm over his head, looking down at him with the same cold expression. Before the masked man could say or do anything, Sniper stabbed him in the chest with the kukri. The BLU Spy choked in his own blood, and the moment Sniper let go of him his body slumped to the floor, dead and waiting for Respawn.

Sniper looked down at his handiwork for a moment, but then closed his eyes and took a few steps back, holding his head. He saw again the corpse at his feet, and frowned.

'That's what you get for cutting my bloody face, you wanker,' he thought, and picked up his rifle. He had to find another spot now thanks to the BLU snake, so he quickly got out of the room and went away, not noticing a third party was still in the room. In a corner, RED Spy uncloaked, his hand holding an unlit cigarette. His eyes were wide, his mouth froze in a shocked expression, and his heart racing. But that wasn't fear, Spy recognized: it was excitement. He had just witnessed a whole new side of Sniper. His eyes blinked, and then narrowed, his mouth drawing up into his usual scheming smile. The man had become extremely interesting all of sudden, and in his mind Spy still saw the cold eyes Sniper had had while glaring at his counterpart. How delicious, how exciting to have someone like him so close. Glancing at the corpse once more, he left the room, deciding it was time for him to do something about that BLU Engineer's teleporter.

At the end of the day RED won again, but this time they had too many close calls and, of course, Soldier decided to remind them how to fight in war with the Sun Tzu story. Spy quickly cloaked and left the room, the unlucky ones being everyone but Medic, Sniper and him, left to hear the Soldier's speech. Opening the door to outside, Spy let the fresh breeze hit his masked face, releasing him from any worries he had (not that he had any). For a second he felt like he was away from that place, in the middle of a field, enjoying peace and silence. He stepped forward, with his eyes still closed, enjoying the last sound of nature while the sun was setting. Moments like that allowed him to go back to being a normal man.

When he opened his eyes he felt much better and decided to go and tormen his new teammate. He hadn't forgot about the show in the morning, and he sure wanted to get some more information about why that happened. He went towards Sniper's van, walking slowly to not make any sound and surprise him. He was smirking in anticipation, but his plan fell flat on its butt when he arrived.

What he saw was like a mirror of himself from earlier: Sniper was standing still, his eyes closed, his head looking slightly up. The breeze was moving his clothes and hat, and the silence around him was nearly absolute.

The silent man.

Spy realized he had been staring for quite some time when Sniper stirred and opened his eyes. Taking that as his cue to make an entrance, Spy stepped towards him, back to his usual smug self.

"Good evening bushman! I can see you're being absolutely useless standing there like a scarecrow, good job!"

Sniper growled at him, or at least tried; Spy could tell by the glare he received but he didn't mind. He was up for a small talk, or monologue, with the man, so he kept moving towards him when he saw the bandages over the cuts in his face. "Mmmm...you should let the Doctor take a look at those; if they're not properly treated they'll leave a mark."

Sniper touched the left side of his face and frowned. The fact was he didn't want to bother anyone...no, he didn't want to face anyone. His silent condition left him quite insecure when it came to socializing with others.

"Well I guess you want to add something to that eh...mmm...well, I don't know how to call whatever you are, but I guess wildman will do."

Sniper glared at him, much to Spy's delight. He held both of his hands up. "Alright alright, I haven't come here to have an argument with you, I'm just here to have some quiet time, and since you can't speak a word, you're perfect!"

Sniper rolled his eyes and shook his head, going towards his van. he had enough of the man, and still he couldn't punch his face back to France because of the deal. Besides, dealing with the counterpart had been enough for one day, and...

"I saw your little angry act this morning. I would never guessed you had so much anger buried in you."

The taller man stopped in his tracks, shocked, and slowly looked at Spy. His expression must have said everything because Spy waved his hand, as if the situation was just an everyday thing. "Don't worry bushman, I've seen worse than that in this place, trust me. Pyro, for example." That earned a sigh of relief from Sniper and, at the same time, a worried expression a second later.

"Oh? You must have seen his...her...makes me wonder...well, his behaviour in the field. He laughs while burning people, that's not exactly sane. Word of advice? Take candies with you if he thinks you're the BLU Spy; works everytime."

Sniper arched an eyebrow, a half smirk on his face. Spy chuckled slightly. "Yes mon ami, that thing loves candy. And since my BLU counterpart hasn't been able to get the 'candy password' yet, every time Pyro suspects someone and doesn't receive candy, he burns the poor soul down. So you better have at least something with you".

Sniper silently chuckled, giving Spy a thumbs up. And then both of them froze for different reasons: Sniper because he just laughed at something the french frog said, and Spy because he had managed to understand the bushman's reactions.

In other words, they had managed to create some sort of communication.

Both men shuddered, and when they realized they did the same thing at the same time they shuddered again. "Alright enough! I think we don't have anything to tell each other, specially you, so I'll leave you with your things. Good night"

And with that he left. Sniper watched him walk away for a while and then smiled. Maybe Spy wasn't that bad...then again he was a SPY, the word was practically a synonym for 'betrayal' and 'backstab'. With that final confusing thought he entered his van. A day old pasta dish sounded pretty good for dinner.

...

Spy headed for his private room, passing by all the team and brushing aside whoever came his way: he even took Scout by both shoulders and set him aside when the brat tried to launch into any of his idiotic comments about baseball. Spy's mind was busy with something else. Once he entered his room he closed and locked the door, slumped down on his favourite chair like he was a sack of potatoes and decided that wine was overrated, at least for that moment. His brain was trying to think around the fact that he just bonded with a Sniper. A rude, savage, wild, dirty, ohmondieuthelackoffashion Sniper.

"Un Sniper pour l'amour de Dieu!" French obviously getting in the way. "I would preferably bond with a _plant_ before bonding with that bushman!" He ran his hand over his face and head. Why, of all people, was the bushman the only one who chuckled at something he said? Why could he perfectly read the bushman's body language? 'Well, maybe because he's mute and used to it?' That made perfect sense.

But over all the confusion, a more reasonable conclusion came up to him.

'Because he's the only one who enjoys silence the same way you do.'

Always being surrounded by loud teammates who would prefer to yell their words at each other, including him, usually ended up being suffocating for a man like him who enjoyed calm and peaceful moments in which his mind could let go and relax. And for once, another teammate had the same way of relaxing, leaving the nature around him wash his problems away and calming the mind and body.

Yep, Sniper was the opposite of him and, at the same time, enjoying something as simple in that the same way he did.

Spy sighed and walked towards the window. He looked out at Sniper's van, parked as always, as filthy as the place could be and still probably cozy.

"Better not get too close..."

And with that he closed the curtain


	3. Making new friends

**Hello! Finally out of exams and homework I can continue this! To be honest, I had this chapter half finished for a month. Also, my beta reader is absent, so this chapter has only been read by me.**

 **Prepare yourself for some mistakes, not in grammar, but in the use of words (english not my main language m8).**

 **Leaving that aside, thanks for the reviews, really. With all the stress of class I was about to give up on both stories, but the rewvies and the views kept me coming back and try to write the next chapter. So thank you a lot.**

 **Aaaand here's the chapter! Enjoy.**

...

'Better not get too close...'

Well, he wasn't doing great with that statement. Spy was, again, looking down at the van from his window, inspecting his owner doing things around it. The day had been a boring mess, the fight ending in a draw. Both teams had fought like they were doing chores, and it was probably because the high temperature the day was giving them. It wasn't the same killing your enemy while you were a walking, sweaty mess in a very expensive, sweaty suit. The wet armpits didn't help much either, less the odour. How could you look cool with your armpits looking like the ocean and smelling like the finest trash?

Even with the cologne the stench couldn't be hidden, but at least he was trying to look dignified: the rest of the team hadn't done anything to hide their own smelly problems, and now everyone needed the shower. Good thing he had his own, private shower.

Still, the line of men waiting for the shower was priceless. Spy could even see the stinky lines and flies around them, at least using his imagination a bit.

But then he didn't find the bushman among them.

Hours later, clean and relaxed, he saw the Sniper on his van, looking cleaner...ish than before. He probably had his own shower inside that tiny van, that would explain why he wasn't in the line to the shower room. Well, Spy could take the oportunity to pay the bushman a visit, that would fix the boredom.

He walked out of his private room, locking it, and headed towards the main hall.

...

The evening brought a bit of chill in the air, yet the heat was still clinging around. Sniper was calmly putting some order around his van to set a his garden chair outside, make a fire and sit down at night after dinner to enjoy the stars. The base lights covered most of them, but it wasn't as much as the city, where the stars could barely be seen, so the Sniper didn't mind it that much.

Once the chair was in place and everything was ready for the night, Sniper went inside the base to get something to eat. Before he could get into the kitchen a hand on his shoulder stopped him. Turning around he found the Pyro staring at him with those dark, creepy lenses of his mask. Sniper gulped: he knew the guy...girl...whatever was a bit lunatic, crazy...all in all, out of the ordinary.

Sniper stood there, waiting for anything the thing wanted from him. After several seconds in awkward silence, Pyro moved its hands around. The taller man looked at it confused. The firebug seemed to understand quite quickly, and started moving its hands in a different way. Sniper nearly choked on thin air: the Pyro was talking to him in language sign.

'Bloody hell' he thought 'don't tell me it noticed I'm mute...'

Trying to get away from any trouble, Sniper raised both hands, as if saying he didn't know what was going on, and made a move to go, when the Pyro took his arm again and repeated the signs. He knew exactly what the Pyro was saying, maybe a bit toned to American language sign, but the similarities were enough for him to understand: it was asking if he could help it with something. So he couldn't get away with it, at least as long as the firm grip of the Pyro kept him in place. Sniper sighed, and answered, moving his hands, 'what do you need?'.

The firebug jumped in excitement and clapped its hands: it finally had found someone who understood what it was saying! Its mumbles were never enough for others to understand. Still, Pyro needed help, so it kept using the language sign the Sniper understood to communicate its needs to him.

'I need help to find pieces of metal large enough for Engineer'

Sniper gave it a thought, and then answered.

'Have you tried the battlefield? There might be some metal left after the fight'

Pyro shook its head.

'I could go, but I don't want to be caught alone. The babies on BLU are mean at this hour and they might want to give me too many cookies. And rainbows can't heal that'

Sniper raised his brow. Babies, cookies and rainbows? He shook his head, trying to get back to the 'conversation'. He could help his teammate, he didn't really have anything better to do besides getting his dinner. The stars could wait.

'Alright, I'll help you, but quickly. I don't want to be out in the field for too long at this hour'

Pyro clapped its hands and hugged him in gratitude. Then turned around and motioned the taller man to follow it outside. Sniper sighed, smiled and then followed Pyro. None of them noticed the cloaked man observing their little 'conversation'. Spy uncloaked once they were out of sight, with an unreadable expression on his face. He lit a cigarrette, but didn't put it in his mouth; instead he was having second thoughts about his original plan. So the Sniper wasn't that solitaire; given the chance, the man could open to others. You only needed to speak in his language.

"What am I thinking?"

Speak his language? The bushman could spend the days alone if he wanted, Spy didn't need anyone or anything aside from his job, his lies and his ladies. You didn't need friends in life, only temporal allies, people who wouldn't keep you tied, and you could just walk away once the alliance was no longer needed. Spy put the cigarrette in his mouth and left, trying to convince himself with those thoughts.

...

The sun was almost gone when they got outside, and the air was getting cooler. Sniper hugged himself: he would need a blanket later if he wanted to watch stars without catching a cold. Pyro seemed fine, as it was already bouncing around, trying to find any piece of metal large enough. For Pyro it was like a treasure hunt: see who got the biggest price. Each piece it found it made sure to show it to Sniper, so the man could get an idea of what it was looking for. Sniper nodded to each one of them, and looked for something similar. He found a red destroyed sentry and started picking parts of it. He showed them to Pyro, who gave him a thumbs up.

'Get as much as you can and lets take them into the workshop'

Sniper nodded, and picked as many of those pieces as his arms could carry. By then, Pyro already had a collection of metal in a bigger piece, used to transport all of them. They went towards a smaller room right next to the base. The place looked like a garage, but covered in pieces of metal, machinery, tools and various things Sniper couldn't even imagine what they were for. Pyro left the metal next to the entrance and walked towards Engineer, who was sitting next to what looked like smaller version of a sentry, trying to figure something out. Sniper opted to stay near the entrance, just in case he needed to leave quickly.

Upon hearing the mumbles, Engineer looked up and saluted Pyro. The firebug motioned him to follow and the shorter man complied. Pyro took him to a corner of the room where they could easily see the entrance with Sniper standing there.

"Oh? You brought him in?" he whispered.

Pyro nodded enthusiastically, and then gestured him to stay there. Then it approached the Sniper, who was still waiting to see if the thing needed something else. Upon seeing him, Sniper waved at it and waited for it to come closer. Pyro used again the language sign, knowing the Engineer was secretly watching them.

'Thank you for your help'

Sniper looked around, and thinking Engineer might be focused on his work somewhere in the workshop, he smiled at Pyro.

'No problem. Need anything else?'

Engineer mouth nearly touched the ground when he saw that. Their new Sniper was mute? He knew the man was very silent and stayed away from the rest, but this was unexpected. He had been trying to be friendly with him, like he used to be with their old Sniper, but he never succeeded. Now he understood why.

Just as Pyro was waving the man goobdye, Engineer came closer.

"Well I'll be damned"

Sniper jumped backwards. That was the last thing he wanted: another teammate discovering his condition.

"Now that's why you don't say anything and stay away. And here I thought I was being rude! Well partner, that makes me feel much better if I say so"

The smiles on the man's face calmed him down, but only a little, not enough to feel comfortable around him. Sniper didn't know yet if Engineer aproved his lack of voice or not, so he had to be careful. He glared at Pyro for a second: that had ben a smart trap.

Noticing the tension in the air Engineer raised both hands.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to call you names or anything like that. I assure you that's nothing to be ashamed of. We don't choose how we are...at least not 100%, that is"

Sniper's figure relaxed a bit at those words. Maybe, just maybe, he could stay around these two characters, at least to not spend all the afternoons alone. Sniper thanked the man, but in return he got a confused expression. Of course Engineer didn't know language sign. Well, that had been a good start.

He was about to just wave his hand and go when Pyro took his arm again and, looking at Engineer, translated into mumbles what Sniper had said.

"Oh! You were thanking me...oh, alright. Sorry, I'm not very versed in the language sign to be honest. Is not something I have to use on a daily basis, so I didn't put any effort into learning it"

The honest confession made Sniper chuckle. Well, at least the man was telling the truth if he just said such thing. Seeing the taller man more relaxed Engineer decided to try his luck. Maybe the man wasn't as loner as they thought, he could at least try.

"So! Thanks for help Pyro here find me more metal. Would you like to see what I'm working on? I could use some opinion on the idea"

Sniper looked at him, and then slightly at the door. What the heck, he could at least try. He nodded and then followed both Engineer and Pyro to the back of the workshop, where the man showed him his latest invention: a mini sentry.

By the time Engineer took a look at the clock it was already past nine. They had been in there for quite some time and the best part was that the Sniper looked less tense than before. The man had showed interest in his newest invention and that put him in good mood. Still, it was dinner time. Engineer set all his tools down to clean up later and looked at both men...if the Pyro was a man.

"I think we can call it a night, don't you think?"

Pyro gave a thumbs up and Sniper simply nodded. The trio walked inside the base towards the kitchen, where they found the rest of the team already setting the table to eat. To Sniper's surprise, Spy was nowhere to be seen. The man just shrugged, thinking it probably was his think to come in the last, to roll with his fancy style. Then he realized he was going to eat with the rest of the team.

Sniper tensed. Eat with the team. Which meant having conversation. Which meant they would discover his secret.

He stopped in his tracks and was about to turn around and head back to his van when Engineer turned as well and saw him leaving.

"Why are you leaving? You must be hungry. Come, today is my time to cook"

He took Sniper by the arm and pulled him towards the kitchen, to Sniper's horror. He was doomed to let his secret be known, and even if he still didn't eat with the rest, Engineer probably would say it out loud. Or Pyro...somehow. Sniper was about to give up when a hand firmly took him by the shoulder. Engineer turned around as well as him and they both saw the Spy.

"I think our bushman here wishes to stay away from the team from now, you know...he might have some difficulties socializing with his issue. I don't think forcing him to interact with the others will do any good, as well as telling everyone about it"

It was hard to admit, but the Spy was right, Engineer thought. Letting go of Sniper's arm the shorter man sighed.

"You're right Spy. I'm sorry Sniper, I didn't know I was forcing you to...do something you didn't want"

Sniper smiled at him and waved his hand, as if saying 'no problem'. Engineer smiled back.

"I could bring you something to eat later, if you want. How's that sound?"

Sniper agreed to that, thanking the man. He really felt good for having someone such as Engineer and Pyro close by, and felt a bit guilty for not following them yet, but the thought that maybe, once the rest knew, he would turn into an outcast for everyone scared him. Engineer nodded and entered the kithen, leaving Sniper and Spy alone.

The masked man took a cigarrete from his case and lighted it.

"You sure are lucky I am around, bushman. I guess you have better luck with me, don't you think?"

Sniper rolled his eyes and gestured a 'thank you' in language sign to the other man, clearly annoyed for having to owe another thing to him. Spy smiled and gestured him to follow.

"Come. The stars are out already and watching them alone, while calm, is quite boring"

Well, at least he could stargaze. Sniper nodded and followed him outside.

Giving his back to the taller man Spy smiled.

It felt so good having someone follow his lead.


	4. Secret code, maggot!

**Well, finally an update. Man that took me long enough (sorry). Even after finishing school, it seems my mind can't get to it. Lucky me, today I found some nostalgic music that will help me get back on track with this lil story.**

 **Again, thank you for reading, and sorry for the mistakes you'll find here. I have no beta reader, so everything is only checked by my own eyes.**

 **I hope you enjoy the chapter.**

...

As the last rays of sunlight bathed the field, the Sniper found himself sitting on a chair next to the Spy. Engineer had brought them some leftovers from the dinner and after giving his good nights, he had left. Now both men were alone, contemplating the sky as nature gave them a background music of natural sounds.  
Spy felt so relaxed that for once he wasn't planning anything. At least for a few minutes. Then his mind went back to his scheming persona, specially with the man of his current interest right next to him. He cleared his throat to get the other's attention.

"I see you went through Respawn at least once today"

Sniper looked at him confused, and Spy pointed at his own cheek.

"I'm afraid wounds that stay after battle are not completelyl healed. Respawn makes a small backup everyday, and any wound that you may have at that moment is registered as a scar. Do not worry, a scar makes you more watchable than before"

Sniper grunted in response, but decided to turn his gaze upwards as the first stars were showing up. He didn't mind having the Spy next to him at that moment of the day, but the man could at least stay silent for once. Maybe he was asking a tad too much from the french frog.

On his side, Spy decided to look upward as well. He was finally having a moment of peace and maybe it wasn't a good idea to break it. In fact, it had been ages since the last time he shared a moment like this with someone else.  
It was before he joined this war, before he became the Spy, and before she died. The masked man sighed, memories from his past coming back to haunt him. He closed his eyes, trying to put those memories back to rest. He couldn't afford looking weak in front of everyone else, and not only because of his job, but because he had made that his personal choice.

Feelings were only for the weak.

When he opened them he noticed the sun was completely gone and they were bathed with the moon light. The stars were quite visible from that spot, and barely a sound from the base reached them.

"This is not half bad, bushman" he declared, while putting both his hands behind his head in a relaxed posture "I have to admit this is better than I thought"

The taller man chuckled silently and Spy allowed himself to smile.  
Both men stayed like that for an hour or so before Spy decided that it was enough bonding for one day. With a wave of a hand, and leaving everything for the Sniper to get back in the van, Spy walked back into his private room. Despite his façade of non-caring, the ghost of the smile from before was still present in his face.

...

The next day started as usual: blood, gore, men yelling; your everyday's routine. After he had to clean everything the past night Sniper decided that next time, if Spy wanted to have another stargaze together, he would have to clean up after it. Either that, or watch the stars in some uncomfortable spot, like standing still like an idiot.  
Still, the man wasn't that angry, just slightly annoyed. The fact that he had company the past night made him feel a lot better. His initial thoughts about the base had been of solitude and reclusion, and now he had someone to 'talk' to. Even if the man was annoying to his best.

He was lost in his thoughts when a rocket came towards him at full speed. Sniper had seconds to react, opting for going into the corner of the small room he had decided to use for snipping post. The explosion destroyed part of the room, leaving a huge gap between him and the only wat to go back down onto safe floor. He was very stuck there.  
Sniper knew that he could try and escape with Respawn by throwing himself onto the ground below, but with his luck he would probably end up half dead, in pain and with the BLU Scout mocking him until his respawning time. Scratch that, he needed another plan. Time, on the other hand, didn't want to wait until he had an alternative escape plan, and the wood planks underneath him started to crack, too damaged from the explosion to keep up with his weight for much longer. Before he could realize what was happening, the floor under him gave up and he fell on a free fall.

Sniper prepared for the worst, when something hit him from the side. His team's Soldier had decided that now that there was no snipping post there he would rocket-jump his way onto the enemy team, and for Sniper's luck, collided with the man on the go. Both men landed a bit too early than Soldier had planned, and Sniper was quickly grabbed by one arm and pulled onto his feet.

"MAGGOT! How dare you try and stop an american from reaching his victory?! You know how many insects back there died for me to do this triumphal jump?!"

Still shocked from all the events, Sniper just stared back at the place where said bugs were...if they were there.

"You have no shame...but you still can do something to fix it! Take this!"

Before he could react, a shotgun was placed on his hands. He was about to gesture that the weapon wasn't his type of thing, when Soldier pulled him behind some crates around the cart.

"See that that, soldier? That is a bunch of animals pushing a bomb thinking they can make our important and useless last point, which is completely far from our base, explode! And we can't allow that! So now you and I will go there and will shoot them dead, alright?!"

At that point the last thing Sniper cared about was his secret about being mute: this situation was far from normal, and he had to do something to get away from it, so he started gesturing Soldier in language sign that he couldn't do it. Sadly, the other man understood the language sign as, well, some sort of secret language.

"Good idea maggot! We will use signs to communicate without being heard! Good thinking, I like your style!" he patted the other man on the back and nearly sent him face first to the floor. Then, without any other word, Soldier stood up and went behind another set of crates, so both men were at each side of the path the cart had to follow. Once he was on the other side, and with the cart approaching, he looked over to Sniper, and started 'using' the language sign.

'Okay honey, we get his cucumbers and dance covered in fish and smoke' finishing with a thumbs up.

Sniper really didn't know what to do with that information. Aside from staring at the man like he was some sort of alien, he could only imagine what was going through his mind. He was also sure that Soldier had no idea about language sign, but he tried to answer him anyway.

'Look, mate, I have no idea what are you talking about'

Soldier nodded at every single gesture he received, and smiled, like Sniper had just agreed with him. He answered back.

'Good, we run around naked and eat our egos with their hairy eyeballs' and another thumbs up.

Sniper sighed. If he had to put up with the situation he might as well get himself killed as soon as possible and get back to his snipping job. He gave Soldier a thumbs up, as if he had understood everything, and prepared for when the man gestured him to attack.  
When the cart was about to pass by them, Soldier stood up, let out a war cry and attacked the entire team. Sniper took that as his cue to move and so he stood up as well, shooting at anything that was in his range. Shotguns surely worked in a different way than his rifle, but he managed to hit the BLU Heavy and BLU Demoman on their chest. Soldier, on his side, took down BLU Medic, BLU Scout and BLU Soldier, who had decided to join the rest of the team after he had destroyed Sniper's spot.

Surprisingly, none of them had died during that absurd attack, for some reason. Sniper looked at Soldier, surprised and shocked. The man may be crazy, but he had some good strategies in his head; either that, or dumb luck. He was about to approach the Soldier and congratulate him when he felt a piercing pain in his stomach's side, making him fall sideways onto the floor. He clutched his wound with one hand while the other was busy trying to crawl away from the spot to avoid another bullet. He quickly saw the blue dot looking for him again, and closed his eyes. If he was going to be taken down by the enemy Sniper then fine, but might as well do it quickly.

Unlucky him, Soldier decided that no men would die with him around, so he grabbed Sniper and put the taller man over his shoulder. Sniper winced in pain, but didn't do anything else: he couldn't protest anyways. Using the rocket launcher with his other hand, Soldier jumped away from the scene, landing on RED's territory and ran towards the Engineer's nest. The situation was all too familiar for Sniper: again next to the dispenser, with a bullet in the stomach, brought there by a teammate...

He simply sighed when the dispenser's healing fumes reached him. He had to take the bullet out if he wanted the wound to heal faster, but lacked the strenght to do so, and Engie was busy trying to keep his sentry alive agains the BLU Sniper, who was hidden somewhere and shooting the machine non-stop; and, of course, the Soldier had jumped away to continue with the fight.

"Well well, what do we have here? Again, bushman?"

Sniper looked up and found Spy right in front of him, looking down with a smile on his face. However, this time it wasn't as mocking as usual, at least there was that. Sniper closed his eyes and sighed, lowering his face. To his surprise, Spy simply crouched in front of him and took the hand covering the wound.

"This will hurt, bushman, but is better than to have you here while that smelly camper fills our sentry with bullets"

Sniper chuckled, and prepared for the pain that was about to come. Spy took his knife out, opened it with one hand and looked at the other man. When no pain came, Sniper opened his eyes and looked at the masked man. Spy made sure nobody was watching, and then used the language sign.

'Do you trust me?'

That caught Sniper offguard, and was about to reply some stupidity when he saw the look on Spy's eyes. He was being dead serious with that question. Sniper looked at those grey eyes, letting the question sink in. Spy never looked away while waiting for an answer, watching as the other man's breathing was getting worse at every time he inhaled. Finally, after a few seconds of silence, Sniper shyly nodded. Spy's eyes narrowed, as if aksing 'you 100% sure?'. Sniper nodded, this time with more confidence.  
Spy smiled at him, and then, without another word, went to work with the bullet wound. He inserted the knife while Sniper gasped. Like the other time, he found the bullet and, maneuvering a bit, took it off, this time faster. Once the bullet was out, the dispenser's fumes finally got to work properly, and Sniper's wound was closing faster than before. He sighed once it was closed, and before he could do anything, his rifle was on his lap.

"I found it next to a ruined ex-snipping post of yours, so I decided to keep it here until I found you. Of course, you managed to get yourself in problems before that, but oh well" Sniper stood up, smiling at the masked man in response. Spy simply exhaled some smoke, before looking at him "Now, would you kindly kill that sorry excuse for a Sniper, s'il vous plait? He's annoying me way too much"

Sniper tipped his hat, and hid behind Engineer's sentry, who's answer was surpise when seeing his teammate taking cover behind his building. Soon enough Sniper saw his BLU counterpart hiding behind an old window. He aimed, and soon the sentry didn't receive any other bullet.

"Wow...thanks stretch, I was getting a bit tired of having to keep my sentry alive with that crazy man shooting all the time" Engie leaned on his dispenser for a moment of rest. "I swear he's getting more and more annoying as the day progresses" he chuckled, looking at the other man. Sniper gestured a 'no problem' and then looked around trying to find Spy. Of course, the masked frog was nowhere to be found, probably away already to backstab and sap whatever he found on his way. However, Sniper couldn't help but smile looking at the spot where the man had been moments ago, before deciding to stay with Engineer for a while.

That smile, however, didn't go unnoticed by the cloaked Spy. He stood there for a few seconds before running towards the BLU base. His mind was focused on two thing: one, how many backs he could get in one go, and two, he had managed to get a genuine smile from the Sniper.

"What am I thinking? That bushman will be the end of me".

And with that, he got behind the enemy and started his backstab rampage.

...

RED had won the match, specially after that magnificient moment of humiliating deaths brought by a Soldier and a Sniper. BLU couldn't recover from that absurd situation quickly enough to bring the cart onto the last point. Spy was watching the survivors on the losing team running away in the humiliating round with mild interest. He was more focused on his own thoughts, specially for the fact that he had actually helped another human being without expecting anything in return. It had been a long time since he had done that. In fact, the last person he did something like that had been her. It felt interestingly awkward.

Then he catched a glimpse of someone else just watching and not partaking in the show: the Sniper. He was perched in another one of his ridiculous and uncomfortable posts, watching the whole thing in front of him. Spy decided it was time for his moment of thinking, in private, without a team yelling to the world how amazing they were. He was about to get inside the base when he found another interesting person: his BLU counterpart. He wasn't trying to run away, he was just there, leaning against the wall, waiting for anything to happen.

"I see you're enjoying the view of your team being slaughtered"

BLU Spy chuckled. "A tea with this would be a lot better, but I guess I can't ask for everything in this pathetic war".

Both Spies stood there, watching how RED was pursuing BLU, both with cigarrete in hand and looking mildly amused.

"I see you've been being nice to your Sniper. Are you getting soft or old?" the BLU asked at his RED counterpart. The RED Spy simply looked forward, thinking about what to give away for the giggles and what to keep for obvious reasons.

"The bushman amuses me. Besides, the more you get them close to you, the more they'll regret later, don't you think?"

BLU Spy snorted. "Yes, right before they slice you and use you for dinner. It's a good plan in my book"

The RED looked at him. "And how is yours doing? He's getting better with his aim: now he's able to shoot a sentry"

"Ugh, don't make me talk about him. He has better aim and less brain each day. Is like trying to talk to a rock. In fact, I could get more information from a rock"

Bot Spies laughed a bit.

"Well, we better get back in before they think we're being traitors. I wish you good luck with your rock" and with that, RED Spy walked back inside the base. He usually had that kind of conversation with the BLU Spy becayse why not? Spies never went according to the rules. Still, they never shared personal or important information, just mundane things, like 'how's the weather on your side?' or 'has your team realize how to cook yet?'. It wasn't friendship, but kept both men from getting bored to their cores.

On his side, BLU Spy was also going back into his base, following the survivors of his team, when he spotted the RED Sniper. He was climbing down his snipping post calmly, like he had all the time in the world to do so. BLU never forgot the way that man changed from bushman to cold assassin, and that had been keeping him distracted from time to time; not a lot, but enough to come back and think about it. He had never seen a change in personality so abrupt, and for what he noticed, the Sniper didn't have complete control over it. It had to be triggered. Which was interesting.

He would have to try and trigger it again.

...

Another day, another fight won. That was enough to make Sniper content: another calm night to get some dinner and relax while watching the sta...

"Yo Snipes!"

...oh boy. That was a situation he really didn't want to endure. Sniper turned around slowly and found Scout standing behind him, waiting for any kind of answer, which he couldn't give him. Sniper felt his hands shaking a bit: Scout was the last person he wanted to deal with, because if he discovered his secret he would tell everyone about it. Still, he had to give the young man some sort of answer, so he looked at him right in the eyes and nodded as if telling 'I acknowledge you are right there, so what do you want?'. He just waited the boy wasn't stupid enough to not get it.  
Fortunately for him, Scout understood.

Instead of speaking whatever was in his mind, Scout looked around, taking in the place.

"Dude...this place is...weird. You live out here on your own? That answers a lot of questions"

Sniper grumbled at that. He hadn't done anything to actually deserve that kind of statement; if he had a voice, he would probably retort with how annoying the brat was.

"But I'm not here for that. I'm here because Solly said you use ultra secret language and I wanna learn that, you know? Like, I want to learn how to communicate secretly and stuff...no that I need that kind that, but you know, I'm cool like that and it might help me get what he's talking about and...you know"

Oh...

"I'm afraid that will have to wait for another day, petit. Right now the bushman right here is busy"

Both of them turned around to see the Spy walking towards them, all smug and confident as always. Scout frowned.

"I was here first! And I asked first!"

When he was next to him, Spy simply looked at the boy with mild amusement.

"Maybe, but you also are the youngest in here, therefore, the last to have things. So go back inside and play with your bat. The real adults here are going to have a serious conversation, which is too much for your virgin ears"

Scout answered with a colorful array of swearing, but left anyways. For all Sniper could see, Spy seemed to be the only one to make the guy go away without getting beaten to death with either his bat, or his words. Still, he had to deal with the masked man. And it didn't make anything better the fact that he owed him twice now.  
To Sniper's surprise, Spy simply walked back towards the base, not before gesturing the Sniper to follow him. The Australian's shoulders slumped down, but followed him anyways. He really wasn't in the mood to get in the base and be seen by everyone. He had to stop his train of thoughts when he saw Spy turning around a corner without getting inside.

Both men followed a shadowed path between the base and the fence that kept them inside, where light barely reached anything. Sniper almost hit the other man when he stopped on his track in front of a ladder. Without a word, Spy started climbing up, and Sniper followed him when he had enough space. For the whole trip up the ladder no one said a word or did anything to get the other's attention.  
Sniper thought that since Spy, who always loved to brag about how much he knew, was now silent, the whole situation probably was important for him; a thing he could respect. He only expected to not be asked to do something embarrassing.

The ladder didn't end until they reached the roof of the base, and Spy said nothing once they reached their destination: he didn't need to. Once Sniper stood up from the ladder and looked up he understood everything. Without moving any muscle, his eyes widened and his mouth opened in a silent expression of surprise.

Above him was one of the most beautiful shows nature could give to mankind. The sky was completely clear and the stars shone like bright, little suns. The base's lights didn't reach that spot, and the yelling of his team couldn't be heard. A completely silent night, illuminated only by the light of the full moon. Without realizing, Sniper smiled. The desert night reminded him a lot from the night back in Australia, his home. He didn't notice the cold breeze, amazed as he was.

Spy, next to him, lit a cigarrette and smiled.

"What do you think? Maybe the chairs up here would be much better, and we wouldn't need to clean up the place afterwards"

He said casually, althought he wanted for the man to agree with his plan. He had discovered this spot months ago, but never shared it with anyone, because it would probably turn into a crowded area, with all of his team drinking and yelling. Sniper, on the other hand, didn't want to have a lot to do with the rest of the team, so it was perfect.

Without looking at him, Sniper nodded. Then he actually looked at the other man, frowning, and gestured.

'But why share this with me?'

Spy exhaled some smoke before speaking his thoughts out loud.

"This is a show that one shouldn't attend to alone. Besides, you are as secretive as anyone can get, so that's why I trust you with this little secret of mine"

Sniper's frown deepened a bit. The Spy was giving him a lot and only asking to keep the secret in return? That sounded very fishy, but if the man wanted to keep it that way...as long as his own secret was safe as well, he was okay with it.

"I saw you today with Soldier. The man thinks you're a genious for having a mysterious and secret language for both of you. I can see you're improving your socializing skills"

'Ugh...' Sniper didn't need to be reminded of that scene. It was humiliating and absurd enough on its own, and he had hoped that nobody had acknowledged it.  
Oh! He almost forgot.

'Thanks for helping me back there, mate'

Spy waved his hand as if it was nothing. "I think that's our fate, don't you think? You get your sorry self in trouble, and I'm there to rescue you"

Sniper chuckled. And then looked up again. Closing his eyes, he lets his arms rest on his sides, and took a deep breath. His ears focused in getting any sound, and upon hearing less to nothing, his mind relaxed. The wind moved his clothes and the bit of hair at the back of his neck. It was still cold, but not enough to wake him up from that moment.

Spy watched him carefully. He felt somehow honored to be allowed to stay while the taller man was like that; he was sure nobody before had been allowed this. And then he did the same: looking up, he closed his eyes and let his mind wander in the silence of the night.

He knew Sniper wasn't his friend, or anything related to that. They were just two human beings enjoying the same.

And that, at least for now, was perfect for him.


	5. Source Code

**Thank everyone for the reviews (I read them all and I love them, honest!) and for reading this crazyness. Ladies and gentlemen, the plot starts now! Yeah, until now it was more of a character initial development, now we have plot! *claps***

 **Ok no XD.**

 **First of all, a thank you to Terminal Nostalgia and Bluestonewings for helping me fixing this mess. I'm really happy to have you two reading this before hand so you can point out mistakes and help me get better with my english.**

 **Now! Onto the chapter!**

...

Screams. Everyone on the battlefield was screaming and yet, he could only observe. Why were they screaming? Oh yes, they were dying, like they did on a daily basis. But for some reason all this yelling felt unnatural. They weren't the screams of war.  
They were screams of fear.

Why? Why were they scared? And of what?

Sniper tried to move, but his body felt numb and heavy. The only thing he could do was stare from down from his vantage point. Why couldn't he move? And, on top of that, why everything felt so foggy? Like it was some sort of dream...

"Because this is a dream."

He turned around and saw Spy, but for some reason he didn't exactly recognize him as his team's Spy. Who was that man? He surely looked like him, at least that much he could tell with his unfocused eyes. Sniper tried to clear them with his hand, but nothing worked; it was like seeing the world from behind steam.  
The other man started walking towards him. Sniper wanted to get out of there so badly, to go down and help his team with whatever they were going through, but his feet weren't responding and his body felt heavier with every step the masked man took towards him.

A part of his mind yelled at him to run, but that part was quickly pushed away once the masked man stood in front of him. Spy put his hands on Sniper's shoulders, keeping him in place, and looked right into his eyes. For some reason, Sniper wasn't able to look away or even close his eyes: his body had stopped working.

"Don't pay attention to the screams, they're not real. It's just a dream"

There was something about the soft voice speaking to him that was familiar, as though this Spy was someone who talked to him everyday. Then the masked man leaned closer to him and whispered in his ear. The Spy's voice wasn't clear and Sniper wasn't able to understand anything, but it still made something in his mind click, like something he'd forgotten long ago resurfacing. Without thinking, Sniper pushed Spy away from him and turned around, diving for the window.

Dream or not, that was a place he didn't want to go back.

...

Sniper woke with a gasp, his head nearly hitting the cupboard over his bed. He sat there for a couple of minutes, trying to steady his breathing. That dream had been a tad too real for his taste. When he felt his body wouldn't collapse under the mere memory of the dream, he stood up to make some coffee and start the morning. It was Saturday, which meant ceasefire, which meant he was going to ponder about the dream all day long. Or maybe he could tell it to someone, get a second opinion on it.

Sitting down on the chair he started drinking his coffee while his free hand took the pen and notebook he always left around since Spy came to visit for the first time. His mind was still in the dream, trying to make any sense out of it. There was a Spy he didn't know: maybe that was the materialization of his worries?  
And then what he said.

Then, the whispered message he wasn't able to understand.

Maybe he forgot something, and his mind was trying to tell him? As far as Sniper could tell, he had all his memory in place. He had been working for TF Industries for three years now, the first one in a team full of idiots with a severe lack of teamwork, two months with another team that was disbanded because some of his teammates had died during a Respawn failure, and then...

Sniper's eyes widened. What happened then? He had been with another team, he was sure of that, and they were...they were...

They were screaming.

Sniper looked down at his notebook and realized he had been writing all the time, but what was in the paper didn't make any sense to him.

'int calculate_time(int result){  
int quantity;  
if(result=1){  
quantity=1200;}  
else{  
quantity=0;}  
return quantity;

The Australian nearly threw the pen out of the window. He couldn't understand a word of what he was writing, yet he had done it without even thinking. He stood up, his eyes never leaving the page. Then, without thinking, tore out the page and threw it into the bin. The situation was getting out of hand. His past team had been just fine, he probably left because he had his own motives, and the rest of the team was fine, as far as he could remember or, right now, care. He didn't need another problem on his shoulders, he already had enough with his mutism getting in the way of everything.

A knock on the door made him jump on his feet. Then he frowned. He really didn't want any company in that moment. On the other hand, maybe that was exactly what he needed. Someone to keep him away from that dream, those thoughts and that piece of paper he would make sure to destroy later.  
Sniper opened the door and found Spy, of course, on the other side.

"Good morning bushman, I can see you had a magnificent night, seeing how the all mighty Sniper is still in his underwear"

Sniper gave him the stare, but then shook his head and smiled. That was Spy for you.

"The rest of the team is gathering for breakfast, and while I know it's not your forté to go and socialize, I think you may need to attend to this one"

Sniper leaned against the doorframe, and was about to cross his arms and give his answer when he realized he needed his arms to answer. So he just leaned awkwardly against the doorframe.

'Why would I want to do that? I still don't think everyone will accept someone flailing his arms around to communicate.'

Spy's expression fell a bit, right before setting his 'all mighty Spy's expression of triumph and pride' back.

"Yes, about that. I'm afraid your secret is no longer a uhm...secret."  
Spy took a step back when he saw the murderous look on Sniper's face. He held both hands in front of him.

"It wasn't me, bushman, but someone else who already knew about it and who's as tactless as cardboard. I'm afraid our doctor didn't know you wanted to keep this a secret and he has been looking around for you, to perform his medical check and whatever the man feels like doing to you, and of course, he had been saying out loud things along the lines of-" he started imitating Medic's voice and accent, "' 'Sniper! Herr Sniper, if you can hear me, please make any sound with your hands or feet!' Of course, when confronted about all that, our great doctor just told everyone about your mutism as if everyone else was dense, because who would expect a mute person to actually answer a call?"

By the time Spy finished, Sniper was facepalming all his way to the floor, sitting on the small step of the van for support. Spy allowed himself to feel bad about him; even if he had planned on revealing the secret at first. As the days had passed though, he'd grown closer, at bit by bit, to the bushman, as hard as it was to believe. In reality, he was glad to have someone to share those silent moments with, away from the noisy team. It's not like he wanted a friend or anything of the sort , but Sniper had given him a bit of the peace he had been seeking, and now he was sitting in the entrance of his van, probably regretting trusting anyone.

Ugh, Spy wasn't good at cheering people up.

"If it helps in any way, the team took it well. For Soldier you're the perfect man: he says that no matter what, if the enemy captures you, they'll never get any information because you can't deliver it to them. Specially with the secret code you have with him. And the rest, well, I don't think they mind you being silent. The other Sniper we had didn't talk that much either, and everyone was okay with it, so..."

Sniper looked up at him expectantly.

'Great, now what?' Spy thought. 'You have the bushman's attention, say something'

Spy straightened his jacket. "I suggest you take your notebook everywhere if you want anyone to know what are you sayi..."

Spy stopped on his tracks when he saw the expression on Sniper's face. It had been only for an instant, before the taller man nodded, but it had been clear to him. Fear. The bushman had been scared of that statement...or perhaps of his notebook?

"Is there any problem with your, ahem...notebook?"

Sniper stood up and moved his hands.

'Nah, is just a dream I had, about having to carry a huge notebook with me all the time. I guess it had come true.' Then he stepped in his van, signaling Spy to stay outside. Spy just stood there, waiting. He might be curious, but seeing a bushman getting naked wasn't exactly in his comfort zone. Shortly after, Sniper came out of the van, fully dressed with his usual clothes minus the vest. The hat was right there, of course.  
Spy noticed the notebook on his hand and the pen on the other.

"Well then, let's go meet your team."

Sniper nodded, still unsure of the whole thing, and followed Spy towards the base.

...

The entire team was waiting for Sniper to arrive, each one with different ideas and questions. Scout was, for once, was as quiet as the rest of the team. Medic was looking a bit guilty, sitting next to Heavy, who had his arms crossed and was ready to punch the Sniper if he dared to do anything to his doctor for spilling the beans...even if Medic kind of deserved it.  
Spy had told them to act casual and make like it was a normal breakfast. They had prepared everything and the table was set, but nobody was eating yet.

After some minutes, Spy entered the room followed by Sniper, whose eyes were fixed on the floor rather than on anybody on the room. He really felt like a caged animal in a show for everyone to laugh at. In fact, he was expecting at any moment for the laughter and the insults to start. But when none of those came, he dared to look up, and regretted it.

All eyes on the room were fixed on him, each one of them with different feelings behind them. Sniper sighed and looked down again, following Spy to the table and sitting between him and the Pyro, who was more than happy to have him next to them. Instantly, Pyro started moving his hands in a way only Spy and Sniper understood. The rest of the team felt lost at what Pyro was doing, but soon they held their breath when Sniper started moving his arms as well, answering the firebug.  
It was weird seeing someone communicating with only the movement of his arms and hands, and sometimes small movements of his mouth, as if he was saying something but without any sound coming out.

Pyro clasped their hands and then proceeded to keep 'saying' things, but was interrupted by Spy, who coughed to get everyone's attention.

"Well, I think we all are hungry, so maybe we should start with our breakfast, non?"

Everyone looked at him and then nodded, some muttering things, others keeping silence. The atmosphere was both awkward and tense, and nobody dared to say anything about the elephant in the room. Medic just looked down and ate in silence, and flinched a bit when he noticed Sniper's eyes on him. Sniper looked at him for a moment, trying to turn the man into a crocodile he could kill anytime for what he did.  
On the other side, he felt like a weight has been lifted from his shoulders. Everyone knew he was mute, and Spy had kept his word, so in a way, it was good for him. The only thing that was annoying him is how nobody even tried to address the matter: everyone was just eating what was in their plates, looking down as if someone just died and they were at a funeral.

He knew his secret was hard to take in, but he would have prefered the insults and the laughing: that, at least, made it clear what they thought about him. This silence was much worse, because it didn't communicate what they were thinking, since each one of his teammates had a different expression.

The Australian realized the situation wasn't going to get any better and it had to be him the one who said anything to calm the mood. He took the notebook and his pen, put his plate aside and started writing. The rest of the team stopped eating, except for Pyro, and watched him. Sniper decided to not to pay attention to their stares and kept writing down what he wanted to communicate. Because his notebook was rather small, he needed a few pages to write the whole thing, and once finished, he looked at Spy.

The masked man looked back at him, and then accepted the notebook with a nod and a smile, instantly realizing what he was being asked for, much to Sniper's relief. Spy cleared his throat, and started to read.

"Good morning everyone.

First of all, I want to say thanks for not laughing. Second, while I didn't want this to be known so early, I knew it had to come out sooner or later, and I guess the Medic saying it out loud is one of the best outcomes, I guess."

Spy stopped for a moment to look at Medic, who sighed.

"As you now know, I don't have a voice. It's a problem I've had from birth, so I never had a voice to begin with. Like any other mute person, I rely on my gestures to communicate, and because not everyone understands them, I'm usually left aside. The notebook is helpful, but I can't just write all my thoughts in it; I would need a new notebook every week."

That earned a few chuckles. Spy smiled and continued.

"I'm also sorry for not telling you anything about this, but by default I always think that I'll be rejected once people know about this problem. I saw I was wrong, seeing how Engineer"

Said man smiled and tipped his helmet.

"Pyro"

Pyro looked up and clapped their hands.

"And the bloody wanker sitting right next to m...hey!"

That earned a few laughs, including from Medic. Sniper smiled, still looking down like it had nothing to do with him. Spy simply sat straight and looked mildly insulted, but continued anyways.

"accepted the fact that I'm mute, so I hope everyone else can as well. I don't expect for everyone to instantly become friends with me, I'm still a solitary, weird bushman," this time Spy chuckled "but I do hope we can be a team, and run over those BLUs together.

I'm your new Sniper, and it's nice to meet you all."

Sniper dared to lift his eyes to the rest of the team and what he saw, instead of the silence and awkward stares, was a much more lifted mood in everyone. Of course, Scout was the first one to say anything.

"So, you say things with your arms and stuff, but if you have to shout something, then what you do?"

Sniper gave it a thought, and then his answer came in movements more exaggerated, as if emphasizing a burst of anger. Scout laughed, giving him a thumbs up. After that first question, the rest of the team leaned closer to Sniper, asking him their own questions. Even Medic overcame his guilt trip and joined in on the conversation.  
Spy, on his own, enjoyed every second of attention he got for being the bushman's translator.

While the team was having the 'newbie teammate quiz' going on, there was other things going on outside. None of the men inside the base noticed a dark figure creeping around the base, going towards the van parked outside. Once there, the dark figure took a paper clip from his pocket, unfolded it and picked the lock on the door. In mere seconds, he was inside the van, looking for something only he knew. Barely touching any of Sniper's belongings, the figure looked around. After searching for a few minutes he found what he was looking for: the crumpled paper in the bin.

Carefully, he took the paper and unfolded it, and for the first time, he frowned. While studying the contents of the note, a voice in his earpiece caught his attention.

"Hey Spah, found anything?"

The man frowned a bit more, but this time in annoyance. He really didn't like being called his old class name, but he guessed the other man couldn't call him anything but that, since he never revealed his true name.

"Yes," 'Spah' answered. "You were right, I have a note here with source code in it."

The voice on the other side sighed, worried.

"I'll copy the contents of the note and leave it here, I don't want to arise any suspicion, at least not yet. But you were right"

'Spah' looked at the base from the van's door.

"Silent has been activated."

...

 **Okie dokie, a final note here. That source code back there was language C, the first one made and the most basic, but you HAVE to learn it if you want to understand the rest. I thought that since this happens between the 70's and the 80's, C was better to put here rather than Java or Visual Basic, even if I have no clue how a machine like Respawn would work with only C. That's a bit hard to grasp, but hey, we need programming language here, so stay with me on this one, okay? Thanks XD.**


	6. Missing death

**Almost finishing summer and I finally write something. Took me long enough!...Sowweeeeh...**

 **Well! From now on, like I said, we have PLOT! Oh yess...you thought we didn't, well we have! Here it comes!**

 **Aaaaanytime now...**

...

Loading Respawn chip information...

Processing ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||_ 71%

Class: Sniper

Cause of death: explosion

Killer: BLU Soldier

Respawn in: 30 seconds...

Warning: unknown code found. Please confirm the unknown code is valid: y/n

Confirmation accepted. Unknown code added and encrypted into the Respawn's database of class [Sniper].

Respawn in: 2 seconds...

...

Sniper woke up with a gasp. Everytime he respawned it was like a kick in the gut. It seemed that the trip back to life after being blown to pieces was longer than usual, perhaps because the Respawn system had to rebuild him completely. Well, he wasn't going to complain; coming back from the dead was a gift not everyone had.

After clearing his mind enough to stand up without turning to jelly, Sniper took his rifle and his kukri and went back outside to continue with the fight. It was another one of those extremely hot days where you don't really want to work, and just want to get a cold beer, sit down on a chair in the dinning room and be lazy for the rest of the day. Besides, the fight had become quite boring.

He had been blown up to pieces by the BLU Soldier, and yet it still felt boring. Sniper perched himself in one of his posts and waited for a BLU to come by. He had barely managed to set everything in place when he heard footsteps behind him. Turning around he saw nothing, but he knew better than that. There was a smell of smoke to the room. He really didn't want to deal with the enemy Spy right now, so he took his kukri and stood up, looking around at every spot in the room, trying to find a flicker of BLU.

After a few moments of stillness he heard a sigh and the BLU Spy uncloaked at a safe distance.

"You make this whole ordeal pretty boring, bushman."

He was clearly not amused by the situation, but bored to the core as well. Sniper raised an eyebrow and half smiled, shrugging. It wasn't his fault he didn't feel like engaging in an epic battle between RED and BLU, so the blue frog would have to either walk away and find another more interesting prey or get himself killed by the kukri.

"I've noticed something, though. You never say anything to me when we encounter each other."

This time the Spy was looking at him with some interest. Sniper looked at him surprised, and then frowned. He couldn't answer that without giving himself away, and if he used his notebook it would be pretty evident what was going on with him. The BLU Spy, however, made it all clear on his own.

"You are mute. A mute bushman. In all my years of working in here I've never seen anything like this and yet...it's not funny enough. You know, a mute Scout would have been hilarious. A mute Sniper? Your class is usually brainless enough to not start a conversation, or maintain one for that matter."

Sniper rolled his eyes. Not this again.

"And yet, you're interesting. I mean, you befriended your team's Spy. I'm sorry for that; it must be pretty hard."

Sniper shrugged. What else could he do? Besides, he wasn't friends with Spy. They just enjoyed the same things.

...Right?

"You seems to be the type of person who can understand complicated people...maybe it's the lack of voice. Scratch that, it IS the lack of voice. I guess listening to people must be your greatest skill. Either that, or be a living scarecrow."

Sniper sighed. He was getting tired of the whole situation pretty quickly. And since the Spy already knew his secret, he decided to use sign language.

'At least I don't go around to try to get to know everything about them, mate.'

The answer he received to that was unexpected and hilarious. The BLU Spy's eyes widened, not in surprise but in the lack of recognition. Then it clicked. Sniper laughed at his realization. BLU Spy didn't know sign language! Oh that was rich.

"Ugh, stop it. Not everyone had to know your primitive language, bushman."

The BLU Spy was clearly embarrassed, specially if the RED Sniper, the one he wanted to make sure would be humilliated as much as possible, was laughing that hard at him. Well, silently hard. With his skilled hand he took his knife and prepared to stab the bushman with it while he laughed.. Unfortunately for him, Sniper had seen his movement and rapidly recovered, preparing to fight back with his stupidly large kukri.

Spy smiled. he had another card to distract the RED Sniper.

"Say, bushman: have you had that cold side of yours from birth as well? Or is something that developed over the years?"

Sniper's fighting stance faltered at that statement, and the BLU Spy decided to attack him. Wielding his knife, the Spy struck Sniper on his right shoulder, the one holding the kukri. Taken back by what the Spy had said, Sniper didn't have enough time to counterattack it. The blade sunk straight into his shoulder. His mouth opened in a silent scream, right before taking several steps back, looking at the BLU Spy, who had retrieved his knife after the attack.

The Spy was looking at him with clear superiority. He had found a weakness, even if it was just a temporary one, and he had proven his theory. By the surprised reaction, instead of anger or seriousness, it was clear that Sniper neither controlled it, not fully understood what was going on.

On his side,Sniper was clearly confused and in pain. For some reason, he knew what Spy was talking about, yet he couldn't comprehend the extend of it. He knew he'd acted weird that day, but not why. But that wasn't the place nor the moment to think about it; not when the blue snake had decided to take out his revolver.

"All right bushman, I don't have all day. I know you can come back from the dead, but that doesn't mean I can't make you suffer first. What's the deal with that sudden change of mood you had?"

Sniper's answer was an honest, but painful shrug. He really didn't have any clue about what was going on back the-

A sudden white hot pain stopped his train of thought. He stumbled back against against the wall and slowly slid down it. Spy had shot his left leg. Sniper looked up at the Spy with fury in his eyes, clutching his injured leg. The BLU Spy had NO reason whatsoever to ask him about a personal matter like that. So what if he had those cold outbursts? It was his problem, not the Spy's.

"I'm warning you bushman, we can make this last as long as needed, I'm in no hurry. I also know you have a notepad with you, and your right arm still has enough strength to hold that kukri of yours. Start writing."

Sniper took his notepad out of his vest's pocket, along with the pen, and started writing. Spy waited patiently, aiming his gun at Sniper's right leg, ready to shoot if needed. When Sniper finished, he took a good look at the words the bushman had written on the paper.

'Go to hell and rot in it, you useless french frog.'

"Oh...so that's the deal. All right then, you brought this upon yourself."

Spy shot Sniper's right leg, getting another silent scream from the bushman. He was getting quite the kick out of it, and while he knew nobody would be alerted by the Sniper silent responses, his gun wasn't being that discreet..

"I'm asking nicely, I only want to know how to avoid that side of yours, that's all. Why not telling me about..."

Realization fell on BLU Spy like a bucket full of ice. Of course, why hadn't he thought about that before? He looked at Sniper, his eyes wide open, and then his expression turned into a serious one.

"Because you don't know."

Sniper looked down at the floor in defeat. His pain was partially forgotten, replaced with what felt like shame for being so easy to read. However, he noticed the BLU frog kneeling in front of him, studying him like all of sudden he had become something more valuable than anyone would have thought.

"You don't know what triggers it, which means..."

Before Spy could finish the sentence, Sniper's world faded to black.

The BLU Spy was caught offguard when the RED Sniper took his last breath out of nowhere and died right in front of his eyes. Nothing had happened to cause it, and all of sudden he was kneeling in front of a corpse, ready to be taken away by Respawn. To make sure the other man wasn't faking, Spy took out his right glove and put two fingers on Sniper's neck. Yep, no pulse, the man was dead.

Putting the glove back on, Spy stood up, and looked around. A stray bullet? No, that would have caused a new wound. Blood loss? No, he had been injured three times, but not enough time has passed for that to be the cause of death. Then what? No one just dies out of nothing. Heart attack? That would have caused a reaction, even if short, but the bushman had just looked forward, exhaled and then died.

The only solution was a Respawn glitch.

He had heard about that before: the Respawn mechanism wasn't perfect, and sometimes when a member of one team died, the exact same member of the other team died as well, because the machine 'confused' both codes, thinking both of them died. But when Spy saw through the window he saw his Sniper standing in another snipping post, shooting like nothing had happened.

Respawn had glitched only on the RED Sniper. Right before he tried to give an explanation as to why he'd reacted that way the other day. It was way too calculated. Someone else was behind this, someone was plotting something, and it was clearly not on Mann's side. Spy looked through the window that lead outside of the base, onto the outter world, trying to find anything that would explain what was going on.

Of course, he saw nothing, so he decided to forget about it for now, at least until the match ended. He resumed in his Spy's duties, leaving the snipping post, unaware of the shadowy figure watching from outside the base.

...

Sniper woke up with a gasp, but this time, it was both because Respawning worse than any experience he had had before, and because he didn't know the cause of his last death. As far as he was concerned, he was bleeding because of two gunshots and a knife wound, but it was way too soon to die because of blood loss. Spy didn't stab him again, just knelt down in front of him and talked. Then, why did he die? How did he die? It had been so unexpected his brain wasn't able to process it.

"Bushman?"

The RED Spy's voice brought him back to reality. He was looking at him with some interest, although his eyes were showing another emotion. Sniper wasn't sure which one was, but he didn't have time to guess. He shook his head and answered the Spy.

'It's okay mate, just had a weird death, that's all.'

Spy's brow quirked, clearly not satisfied with that answer. Sniper looked at him in a 'that's all I have to say about it for now' kind of way. The masked man sighed, knowing he wouldn't get anything else from the Sniper, at least in the middle of the fight. He shrugged and walked towards the Respawn's door.

"I'll see you later then, bushman. Have fun out there."

Sniper smiled. Spy could be a pain in the arse, but for some reason he always knew what to say to lighten up the mood. Sniper took his rifle and followed his teammate out.

Once outside he tried to avoid the BLU frog as much as possible, and it seemed said frog was avoiding him as well, because Sniper didn't find him for the rest of the day. At the end, he went to see his reports about his day.

His eyes widened when he found no trace of the mysterious death. In fact, the Respawn machine hadn't identified it, it was like he never died at that moment, but just kept fighting like nothing happened. Someone had deleted that death from the database.

"What's wrong? You look like you had finally realized your lack of hygiene is something you should be concerned about."

Sniper didn't look at him; his eyes kept focused on the spot where his weird death should have been. Spy followed his gaze and realized what was going on.

"Sniper...didn't you die at that moment?"

Sniper nodded. Spy looked at him and frowned. Then his eyes fell on the gap between deaths, taking a drag from his cigarrette.

"Come, we have to tell this to the Engineer. A glitching Respawn is not a thing we should just let pass."

Sniper finally looked at him and nodded. That was probably what had happened. Everyone knew that Respawn, from time to time, glitched. Still, that sudden death had been far from normal, even for a glitch. It was very unusual to just die for nothing.

After the team had gone to their own business, dealing with the fact that everything ended with a draw that day, Sniper followed Spy into Engineer's workshop. The Engineer apparantly wasn't too down about that day's draw; he was always okay with it as long as it wasn't an humiliating defeat. Upon seeing both men entering his place he smiled.

"Hello there fellas! What brings you two here?"

Spy saluted him with a nod, while Sniper tipped his hat. Spy wasted no time in explaining.

"Engineer, I'm afraid Respawn glitched today."

Engineer frowned at that. For the rest of the team, a Respawn glitch was something that would just pass, but for someone who knew about the technology such as him, it was a more serious matter. He pointed at the worn-out couch in his workshop, inviting his guests to take a seat while he took a chair for himself.

When he saw the couch, Spy gave it a disdainful look, before seeing how Sniper didn't have any problem sitting on it. Well, it wasn't time to be all mighty Mr Clean sir, so he took a seat next to the other man. Soon Engineer appeared with a chair and sat in front of both men, crossing his fingers on his lap.

"Well, tell me what happened, and I want all the details. I need as much as possible to fix it."

Spy nodded, and crossing his legs with both hands on the upper knee, he started to explain.

"During today's fight, Sniper died several times, as per usual..." That gained an annoyed frown from his teammate. Spy simply smiled and then continued "...but it seems one of the deaths hasn't been registered. I saw Sniper being Respawned at that time, but the death records are not showing it. It's like it never happened."

Engineer frowned at that. Respawn was built to record every single death in order to see who was performing better or worse, and to see if someone was clearly close to retirement. So, unless someone had touched Respawn's records...

Before he could think of anything else, Sniper started moving his hands. Engineer looked at him, surprised for a moment, before remembering the man was mute, and so he waited until Spy received the entire message, so he could translate it to Engineer.

Spy nodded at everything Sniper was 'telling' him, and then all of sudden, he frowned. It was followed by a "What? Are you sure?" and a nod from Sniper.

"What? What happened?"

Spy looked at him.

"Sniper had a...weird death. He was talking with BLU Spy and when the BLU Spy was about to say something concerning a matter Sniper doesn't know about, he died. Just like that. For what he told me, he was injured, but not fatally. It was an instant death."

Engineer's frown deepened at that. His posture shifted, feeling uncomfortable all of sudden. Respawn would never perform a sudden death unless it was programed to do so, which meant...

"Someone is touching Respawn's system."

Spy had spoken his thoughts out loud before he could say anything. Engineer looked at him, and nodded. Someone was inside the Respawn system, acting from outside, and didn't have good intentions. He had to tell the Administrator about it, but then again, if he told everything to that woman, she would probably tell them to fix it, or worse, tell HIM to fix it. Engineers were tasked with keeping the Respawn system healthy, so it depended on them if their Respawn system worked properly or not.

From time to time, a maintenance team would come and see that everything was okay, fixing anything that the Engineers couldn't with their tools, but it was mainly the team's Engineer to keep everything under control.

"It could also be that glitch that if one class is killed, his counterpart also dies by mistake. I reckon it's happened before. Still, I'll take a look at the Respawn's logs. It's clear that something fishy is going on here. A death record doesn't disappear just like that, it had to be erased or it's a software's bug. Thank you for telling me, fellas,"

Spy nodded and then stood up, motioning Sniper to do so as well.

"I'll keep an eye on the battlefield, just in case anything else weird happens. Anything weird I see, you'll be the first to know."

Engineer smiled at him. Spy could be a pain in the back most of the time, but when a concerning matter appeared, he was the first guy to get serious. Engineer nodded a thank you to the Spy and then turned to go to the Respawn's room and check the system's logs. Spy walked outside, followed by Sniper, who was looking at the floor while walking, lost in thoughts. Spy looked at him out of the corner of his eyes, and took a drag of his cigarette.

"You should go see Medic. Your checkup hasn't been done yet, and I'm sure the good old 'Doc' wants his files to be finished today before the Administrator calls."

Sniper looked at him, and nodded. He wasn't angry with the Medic anymore, not after how the team had taken the news. Still, he wasn't comfortable with the idea of a checkup. BUT, he was the newbie here, he should try to not be a bother at least.

'All right, I'll go. But...' he paused, his hands in middair, not continuing with the sentence. He wanted to share what worried him, but in the end it wouldn't do anything to calm him down. Yes, he was worried, and it wasn't all because of that Respawn's glitch. The code he wrote kept repeating in his head over and over again. Should he trust the Spy and show him what he had done? It was a leap of faith, but what if they all of sudden thought he was going crazy? What if they thought he had something to do with the glitch?

Now that he had been accepted...

"Sniper?"

Sniper looked at Spy, realizing his hands were still in the air in the unfinished sentence. He saw concern in Spy's features, but also something else. Or was he imagining it? No, he couldn't, he had to keep it a secret until the team knew more about what was going on. Who knew, maybe it was just a small piece of code he saw in a magazine years ago, and after that weird dream, he just wrote it. No, better keep it safe for now.

'It's nothing, a lot happened today and I'm a bit...' Confused? Scared? Annoyed? '...tired.'

That seemed enough for the Spy, who nodded.

"Go talk to Medic, let's get dinner and then come back. Looks like we will have a clear night; that will be relaxing for both of us."

Sniper smiled slightly, finding the idea the best thing that happened to him all day.

'Sounds good'

Then he walked inside the base, looking for the infirmary. When he saw the door with the red cross on it he walked towards it, and knocked twice, still unsure if to go in or just avoid the doctor. A few seconds passed and Sniper's insecurity grew more and more, and when he was about to just give up and leave, the door opened and a tired doctor appeared from behind it.

"Yes? Who is i- Sniper?! Mein Gott! You finally showed up! I've been trying to give you a check up from almost a month now! Come in come in!"

That caught Sniper off-guard, but he couldn't do much when Medic grabbed his arm and took him inside. Then the doctor proceeded to close the door and take the Australian to the medical table and he made him sit on it.

"All right! First, I can't understand sign language, so here, a paper! And a pencil!" he gave them to Sniper. "And now, tell me how you have felt since you came into this team. Then we will proceed with the physical check up."

Sniper didn't understand why Medic would want something like that, but he wrote it anyway. Then he gave Medic the paper.

"Uhm...'I feel good'. Herr Sniper, I'm afraid that's not enough for me to write down on your medical history. I can't just put 'The patient says he feels good' you know. I need more information. And don't worry, it's just to know if the teammate will work okay with the rest of the team, you know, normal procedure. So please, expand a bit on your thoughts."

Medic gave the paper back to the other man, who sighed, and then waited. Sniper, on his side, really didn't know what to say. He was good, what else was to say? Or write?

Yes, he was a bit confused by the Respawn problem, as well as worried for the same reason, but he wasn't sure if telling that to the doctor was a good idea. As far as he was concerned, being the newest guy in the group, he was bound to be the one that knew nothing, therefore, he didn't know if he should tell Medic about the entire Respawn's glitch.

Medic, however, didn't appreciate that short answer, and was looking at him, arms crossed, waiting for another type of response. So Sniper took again the paper and wrote a new sentence, this time longer, telling part of the truth.

'Being the newest teammate makes me feel a bit uncomfortable, so I'm good and uncomfortable.'

Medic chuckled at that and shook his head a bit. That was more normal. Being in a new team was always a hard thing to go through, specially if you were an antisocial individual.

"All right Sniper, let's proceed with the physical examination. I'm sure you'll get used to your new team sooner or later, just have some patience with us."

Sniper smiled. That answer calmed his nerves for some reason. Medic proceeded to poke him and check over his five senses, his breathing, his heart, his Respawn chip (for some reason) and God knew what else. With all the attention Sniper thought he would be fully aware because of awkwardness, but the thing was he was falling asleep. Medic had injected a few things, saying they were needed to see how his body answered to them, that they were related to the medigun and all, but one of those probably had something that made him feel sleepy.

'Well,' Sniper thought 'might as well sleep through the whole deal and skip the awkwardness.'

And so he did. Without gesturing anything to Medic, Sniper slowly closed his eyes, completely missing the look on Medic's face.


	7. Confession

**First of all, thanks to TerminalNostalgia, as always, for beta reading my mess. Not only she beta reads it, and deals with all the bad grammar, but she also teaches me. Thanks!**

 **Also, sorry for the delay. This is the first story I'm putting enough thought into it to not just write and nothing else. I have a txt full of small notes of plot points and all, something I've almost never done before, so yeah, I hope this one goes on well.**

 **Enjoy.**

...

Screams. Everyone on the battlefield was screaming and yet, he could only obser...ok yep, he was back in that dream.

Sniper felt less scared, and more slightly annoyed. He took pride on his memory, while awake and while asleep, and he could usually determinate whether he already had a dream or not. That helped him a lot in the past, specially to recognize problems hiding in his dreams.

And there he was, back on the same place, in front of the same window, with a Spy chatting behind him. Only this time Spy was talking in French, and Sniper couldn't understand a word. So instead, Sniper focused on the ground below. The mist was still there, and he couldn't see a lot, only blurry shapes moving everywhere. Sniper turned around and walked towards the door on the other side of the room, while the Spy continued to babble in French. Since he couldn't make the man stop talking, he decided to ignore him and go down to see what was going on.

Upon opening the door he found himself in a darker room, with enough light to see himself and his surroundings. Turning around he realized the door was no longer there, and lucky him, neither was the babbling Spy. Sniper turned to the room, inspecting it. He soon realized the walls were marked with weird words, similar to the ones he wrote in that note, but in longer pharagraphs. Taking a step forward, he touched the wall closest to him, and realized the word had been marked into, not written, on it. Sniper squinted, trying to make out the meaning of those words, when he felt a presence behind him.

On instinct, his hand went to take the kukri, but found nothing on his belt. Sniper spun around and found himself in front of what looked like Scout.

But like what happened to the babbling Spy, this Scout wasn't the one from his current team; and yet, for some reason, he looked familiar. The entire situation was unnerving him enough, but this new revelation made his entire focus fall on the young man in front of him. Unlike any other Scout, the boy was silent, standing there without doing anything else but stare directly at him. Now that felt uneasy...

Sniper tried a step forward, and seeing how Scout didn't even flinch, tried another one. Since he knew this was a dream, and his brain was able to understand sign language, Sniper gave it a go:

'Hello there mate, you know what's going in here?'

Scout's only reaction was to let his eyes wander around the room. Sniper followed his gaze, only finding what he already knew was there. All the codes he could ever wish for, but still he couldn't understand what it did, or what was it for. Distracted, he didn't realize Scout was drawing closer until the young man was right in front of him. Sniper jumped and took a step back. Scout simply pointed at a place of the room, right behind Sniper. Hesitantly, Sniper turned around and saw what Scout was trying to show him.

He only found one word sticking out from the rest for being alone.

Beta.

...

Sniper woke up, but this time without gasping or screaming. He simply stared at the ceiling, covered in cold sweat and shaking a bit, but other than that all right. Once he collected his thoughts, he looked around, not moving from where he was. He realized he was in a bed, inside the infirmary, and he wasn't alone.

"Uuuuuh! Herr Sniper, you finally woke up!"

Sniper's first reaction was to stay as far away as possible from Medic, especially after the dream, but lucky him his common sense kicked in. This was Medic, the one who opened his teammates up for sick experiments, had told the world he was mute, had a thing for blood...on second thoughts...

Sniper shook his head and sat up, touching his head. He was about to ask about what happened when he remembered Medic didn't know sign language. Lucky him, the doctor proceeded to explain without the need of a question.

"You fell asleep during the examination, not a common thing, but not especially rare either. Oh, Spy came to check on you, and when he found out you fell asleep he got a bit mad. You had plans?"

Sniper facepalmed. He had promised Spy he'd eat dinner with him and then stargaze. Great, now he was finally getting used to socialize, his body had to go and fall asleep, missing it all. Good job, kudos to him.

"Don't worry" Medic said, smiling as always. "Herr Spy told me you could do it tonight, and lucky you, there are no more examinations until next week! Just make sure not to fall asleep before going, okay? OH! And you're healthy, maybe some parts of your body will age faster than others, but don't worry! We are humans after all. Besides, the study of the body, especially when aging, is amazing! Did you know millions of cells die everyday?"

Sniper looked at the Medic, slightly scared. He didn't need to know that! He was about to just stand up and run away, when a knock on the door stopped the good doctor mid-speech. Medic turned to the door, asking more to himself who could it be, and when he opened the door the first thing Sniper heard was "Ah! Herr Spy, good to see you! Come in, he's awake!". Sniper tried to hide himself as much as possible. He felt awkward, very awkward, for different reasons. The most important was having to face someone who he'd just ditched for a good night's sleep. Which had felt refreshing, to say the least.

Before he could make a good explanation for what happened the night before, Spy stood next to bed, with his arms crossed over his chest and an annoyed expression on his face. Soon enough, his face softened into a simple frown, and then the man sighed. Sniper didn't know what to make out of it.

"Good morning bushman, I hope you slept well,"

Sniper looked down. Missing a stargaze shouldn't be a big deal, but for some reason it felt like it at that moment. Up until now, he had trusted very few people in his life due to his solitary nature, and now that life was giving him a chance to actually have the closest thing to a friend he could ever achieve, he slept through it. Well done him. Sniper sighed as well, the least he could do was apologize.

Looking up at Spy, and using his arms to communicate, he said:

'I'm sorry Spy. I don't know what came over me, but I'm sorry I missed our plans. I guess yesterday really got me, I'm not used to so many weird things happening at once.'

Spy snorted at that, and Sniper saw his shoulders relaxing. Well that was a step forward.

"Apologies accepted bushman. I guess I can't expect a wild man like you to all of sudden be as civilized as the rest of mankind."

Sniper chuckled. Spy had a point, and he deserved those words. And for some reason, this time he didn't feel angry or offended by them. Well, that was a step forward. Then Sniper remembered the dream, the note, and everything. It was clear that weird things were happening, and he had something to do with them. Looking up at Spy, his mind worked at full time. Could he trust Spy enough to tell him about this? It was clear that he alone couldn't achieve much, since he had no idea about those words or what they meant, but maybe someone as cunning and, let's admit, smart as Spy, might know what to do.

'Can I have a word with you? Alone. I want to show you something.'

Spy raised a brow, and then turned to Medic, who had been busy with the usual paperwork.

"I think the bushman and I will go. Thanks for taking care of so lousy a man, and sorry for the troubles."

Medic turned to him, and laughed, waving his hand. "Do not worry Spy, it is my job to keep you all healthy; besides, I was able to check Herr Sniper's organs while he was asleep. You have no idea how fascinating the human body is!"

Sniper looked at him scared, and touched his chest and stomach, looking for any new scars he might have gained. Spy simply raised his eyebrows, unable to believe how Medic could find glee in examining someone's innards, and then shuddered.

"Of course doctor...erm, come on bushman, let's go."

Sniper quickly stood up from the bed and headed for the door, barely waving at the Medic, just in case the man changed his decision and decided to keep them both for more experiments. Spy, for once, did more or less the same, waving his hand and saluting the doctor before following his teammate. Once outside, the two of them looked at each other, and started a fast pace away from the infirmary until they were outside the base. The sun was already out, which meants Sniper had slept the entire night in Medic's infirmary. That gave him the chills, but he decided not to comment on it any further. Instead, he motioned the Spy to follow him to his van. The fight would start in an hour or so, and he had to do this now while he had the strenght to do it. He was sure after the fight he would be tired, and his resolution would have disappeared by then.

Spy followed him, with a straight face. He was curious, of course, but he also knew the bushman kept things to himself all the time, and having a chance to know more about him without asking was a chance he didn't want to lose. Sniper stepped inside the van first, and Spy followed, taking in his surroundings. Even if this was the second time he had been in there, this time it felt different: this time he was going in invited, not forcing the invitation. Sniper offered a seat to him on the couch, same place he took the last time, and went to the bin, looking for the piece of paper. Lucky him, he had forgotten about it, if not the paper would have been probably destroyed, and with it his only clue.

Sighing, and hoping for the best, Sniper handed the paper to Spy, who looked at him raising an brow, an act Sniper found the man doing more often than not. He inwardly chuckled; he was beginning to notice certain details about the masked man. Spy took the offered paper, unfolded it and read its contents. Soon his expression changed from serious to shocked, and looked at Sniper, waiting for answers.

It was now or never.

'A few nights ago I had a weird dream, and when I woke up I wrote this down without even thinking. Weird things have happened to me lately, and I was...kind of scared to say anything, because I barely know you all and...'

Sniper stopped at Spy's raised hand, unsure.

"Get to the point, bushman"

His serious voice made Sniper shudder. Well, if he was going to lose everything, might at least do it while helping the team.

'In my dreams I could hear screams, and then a Spy saying weird things to me. Then the BLU Spy realized I change a bit in some situations, or whatever that is, and then Respawn had this weird death with me, without logging it whatsoever, and then tonight I had another weird dream, where I was in a room full of words like the ones on the paper, but more of them, and a Scout (not our Scout) was there, being creepy, and he he pointed at a word on the wall.'

Spy didn't know what to say. Should he trust the bushman, even if he looked pretty crazy? Maybe this whole buddy-buddy deal had gone too far. He could step back, and make like nothing had happened. But when he looked at the expectant Sniper, he realized something. Spy hadn't trust anyone since she left, afraid of losing everything again because of his trust on others. But this wasn't her, this was a grown man who could fight his way out of danger, and who right now was trusting him enough to tell him about all this, knowing that if everything went wrong he would lose a lot.

Well then...time to try again this trust thing.

"What did he show you?"

Sniper looked around, and then briefly said 'I don't know how to say it in sign language'. Then quickly proceeded to get his notebook and pen, and wrote whatever he had seen. Then he handed the notebook to Spy, who took it calmly. On the page there was only one word: 'Beta'.

"Beta?" Spy repeated out loud "he showed you the second letter of the Greek alphabet? Having in mind is a dream, you showed yourself that. I didn't take you for an erudite" Spy looked at Sniper, waiting for an answer. He received just an annoyed frown, but that meant the old bushman was coming back. Spy chuckled slightly, and then went back to business.

"I really don't know what this could mean, but this note here has source code, the code that computers use to properly work. All the weird things happened after you wrote this, and if you were an Engineer I would accuse you of being the one behind all this, but I'm fairly sure you don't know how to program anything. Which means someone is behind all this and, for some reason, whatever that person is doing is affecting you. Maybe he or she is using you to lure us away from their plan."

Spy stood up, with the source code note in hand.

"We should show this to Engineer, he may know what to do with it." Before he could even think what was he doing, Sniper took a hold of Spy's arm, stopping him on his tracks. Spy turned around, again with his raised eyebrow.

"Sniper?"

Sniper looked away for a moment, and then at him.

'Please, keep this a secret for now. I...' he stopped moving, trying to decide if it was okay to say this or not '...I finally have a team that actually communicates with me. I know that if they see this, they'll see me with other eyes.'

Spy's form relaxed. So he had been the one Sniper decided to trust with this. Still, this didn't sit right.

"Then why did you tell me? I could have had the same reaction you fear the others might have."

This time Sniper locked eyes with him. 'You asked me if I trusted you back in that fight, and I said yes. This is my way of showing you that I mean it.'

Something inside Spy's very core stirred, waking after years of being dormant. He realized how powerful his question had been at that moment, and how powerful the answer was in the present. Sniper was trusting him with something he was scared of showing to everyone else due to the possible consequences.

This was real, this was happening.

Spy looked at the paper. He knew showing it to the Engineer would solve a lot of problems, maybe lead them to discover about what was going on, but the bushman was right; without any more clues, the team would condenm Sniper for being the only one so close to what was happening. Sniper would probably be isolated, and all he had achieved until now would have been for nothing.

"You're right. This is not the moment to tell them about this."

Sniper sighed in relief, smiling after being so tense.

"But if anything else happens, you'll tell me immediately. We don't know what we're up against, and it might be something bigger than what we think. The moment we have more clues, we'll inform Engineer about this, or if it gets too dangerous for everyone else, all right?"

Sniper nodded approvingly. If the whole thing turned way too big for both of them, then he would tell them himself if needed. Spy nodded back, smiling this time. And then he went back to business.

"All right, bushman, if we are going to investigate this, first we need to recall everything that happened until now. Take your notebook, we're going to do a list. First: you have a weird dreams where you hear screams and a Spy saying things you can't understand."

Sniper wrote that as the first point.

"Second: you write source code. Third: Respawn performs a sudden death with you, out of nowhere. Fourth: that death doesn't leave a log, or any form of data to identify it. Fifth: you have another weird dream, and this time you receive the word 'Beta', and there's more source code in the dream. I think that's all for now?"

Spy waited for Sniper to finish writing, and then gave it some thought. All those elements had little in common; but the most important one was that everything seemed to go around the Respawn system. Maybe he was looking way too much into that theory, but the source code coming from a man who doesn't know about it was weird, unless he had seen it before, and couldn't remember. Which meant that maybe Sniper had some memories blocked in his mind.

So maybe the Sniper in front of him wasn't completely the man he really was.

"Say, bushman, is there anything you have trouble remembering?"

The question sounded innocent enough for him, but when his eyes focused on Sniper he saw there truly was something hidden beneath the bushman consciousness. All of sudden, Sniper had become tense, looking at the table like it was the most interesting thing in the world.

Yes, there was something, and for the way he saw Sniper reacting, it was something he couldn't get by simply thinking about it.

"Forget I asked, bushman, you may break your tiny brain trying to answer that." Spy placed a hand on Sniper's shoulder. The man, in turn, looked at him "we don't need that now, don't worry. If there is anything you truly can't remember, time will answer everything, trust me."

Spy smiled at Sniper, and in return he got a smile from the other man.

"Take the notebook with you, but give me the page where we wrote everything. Don't worry, I won't show anyone, but I don't think it's safe to leave it in here."

Sniper nodded and did as he was told, giving the page to Spy.

"Now, get ready, the fight will start soon, and I don't think you've eaten anything since yesterday."

Sniper's stomach grumbled, and a faint tint of red appeared on his cheeks. He hadn't realized he was hungry until Spy mentioned it. To Spy's credit, he didn't laugh, just smiled knowingly. Both men stood up and walked outside of the van, heading towards the base. Spy made sure to put both notes, the one with the list and the one with the source code in his pocket. He would need to find a safe place to hide the clues Sniper and he could find. But for now, they had a battle ahead of them.

...

Outside of the base, but still inside of Respawn's grasp, a small bunker-like building stood against the hot air of the desert. From outside, the building looked abandoned, but if anyone took a closer look, they would see it wasn't.

Inside, a man was working on a computer with different screens, all of them with code in it. The man, whose eyes were hidden behind googles and had a hardhat covering his head, looked calmly at the words, writing here and there a few pieces of code. After several minutes of staring and writing, the man sighed and turned the chair around, following the cables coming out from the computer and going all over the floor, to end up connected in several other computers, and some of them into the back of the neck of a young man, who was sitting on a wheelchair.

The hard hatted man stood up from his chair and walked towards the other figure in the room. The younger man, however, didn't react at all at his presence or movement, his eyes focusing on the floor on a cold stare; a thing that didn't bother the older at all. Hardhat knelt in front of the boy, and put a hand on his right knee, patting it as if he was reassuring him.

"Don't worry, we're getting close. Soon everything will work out."

He didn't expect the boy to react at all, but it still hurt him to see him like this. He squeezed the knee, out of reassure himself more than anything.

"I'll bring both of you back, Scout, I promise."


	8. Are you still there?

**Wow hey wow...long time between updates? This can't be right! I MUST write faster!**

 **First of all, thanks to Terminal Nostalgia for beta reading (I can't thank you enough :D!).**

 **Second, thanks to all of the readers of this lil' story. It really helps me know that people actually care for this first attempt at doing something serious, instead of the short stories I usually do. Besides, this is the first one I have with beta reading, so I'm also learning more and more english with it.**

 **NOW! Onto the chapter. Hope you like it.**

...

With his head full of new information, and trying to process it, Spy's day had been quite hard to focus on. Since the daily fights often blended together, making it the same day after day, his brain usually ended up thinking about whatever he had new in it to distract himself. Yes, backstabbing became boring once you did it for years. And yet, there he was, sitting on a chair outside Sniper's van, waiting for the bushman to get something to drink from inside his van and come back so they could stargaze. It had become something normal for them: a moment of welcomed peace and quiet to not think and just observe, enjoying each other's company. But that night Spy's mind was still working.

After learning about the source code, and the strange dreams the bushman was having, his brain couldn't help but connect them to the Respawn's recent glitches. Today's battle hadn't had any incidents, Sniper had perched himself in his usual nests, and the BLU Spy backstabbed him once or twice, but aside from that nothing else ocurred, nothing out of the ordinary at least. Sniper looked relaxed after having one day without anything weird hitting him, and Spy was glad for it, but still it nagged him. He wanted to ask Engineer if he had seen anything unusual, but this was their moment to relax, so it had to wait. Maybe tomorrow..

Spy was so focused in his own thoughts he missed the movement to his right until a cold beer was pressed to his right cheek. He nearly jumped down the chair, looking up to find the giggling idiot with both beers. He grumbled something, but accepted the beer nonetheless. Spy's eyes drifted upwards, looking at the first stars of the night while the sunlight recede. He noticed Sniper sitting on the chair next to him, who did the same and looked upwards. Both of them sighed once the calm settled in, and then laughed because they did it at the same time.

"You know, bushman," without looking at him, Spy continued, "if it wasn't for these moments of peace, I would have probably gone back to torture Scout by showing him photos about France and its history"

Sniper arched a brow, smiling at Spy before glancing back up. He was also feeling rather happy with the situation. Sniper would usually stay cooped up in his van, away from the rest after the battle and call it a day. Still, for some reason, something in his mind kept telling him that wasn't entirely true: yes, he had done that with teams in the past, but with the last team before this one, he probably did something different...

Sniper shook his head. He really wasn't in the mood to think about it. Forcing himself to relax a bit, he kept his eyes on the stars above him.

From that moment, none of them said a word, or at least Spy didn't say anything nor Sniper moved to communicate anything. From time to time, one or the other would take a sip from their beer and then settle back to just stare at the sky in complete silence.

It wasn't until almost forty minutes later that Spy finally spoke.

"I was wondering if I could ask you a small favor?"

Sniper looked at him, and waited for the other to look back at him.

"This weekend I need to go to the town to buy some personal things, but I'm afraid I have no form of transportation, and...well, I thought, if you could give me a hand with..." Spy looked towards the van, and then back to Sniper. To see the man unsure about how to ask for a ride amused the Sniper, but nodded nonetheless, and then moved his arms for an answer.

'Sure, no problem mate. I have to get some things for myself as well.'

Spy smiled, and gave Sniper a silent thank you with his hands. Sniper smiled back, but then his thoughts drifted off again. He couldn't help it, since that last dream, he couldn't stop thinking that maybe, just maybe, he had some blocked memories he needed to recall. Maybe if he tried remembering something closer to the present, and from that go back following a single path... but that could take time, and they didn't have time.

Wait...what?

Sniper leaned forward, separating his back from the chair and looking at the ground. They didn't have time? For what? Without thinking, Sniper put a hand on the back of his neck. Yes, he could feel it: the feeling you have when you know danger is approaching, but you don't know what type of danger it is. If only he could look more into his memories, reach the part of his mind that had the answers. But the more he tried, the more it turned out to be nothing, as if the blank space was the last word his brain had to give him. Sniper sighed, and then realized Spy has been looking at him.

"Remember anything?"

Sniper frowned, and shook his head. Spy sighed, closing his eyes. Opening them a few seconds later, he put a hand on the bushman's shoulder.

"Don't worry. As it seems, we didn't have any trouble today. Respawn didn't do anything out of the ordinary, so maybe whatever is happening, whoever is doing this, it's giving us a rest. Don't force yourself to remember, that can only block your memories away even more. Trust me"

Sniper looked at him, confused. Spy took it as a question, and smiled, a tad sad.

"You are not the first one I see forgeting things, Sniper, there was someone else..." Spy looked away, afraid of giving too much. That information was one of the most secretive he had, because it involved someone he had loved over everyone else. But then again, the bushman had trusted him with all this Respawn and dreaming situation, he could give away a bit in return. Only a bit.

Sighing, he looked back at Sniper.

"I had a sister, whose name I will never reveal, I'm afraid. She was one of the most wonderful and beautiful things in the world, but also quite delicate. While she was healthy in body, in mind she wasn't so much, and what started as a slip in her memory here and there ended in a completely void of consciousness and thoughts"

Sniper stared at Spy quite shocked. He hadn't expected for the frenchman to confess something this personal to him. That made him feel a lot better: if Spy had revealed something this huge to him it meant he really trusted him. Still, hearing about family shouldn't be this enormous, but coming from Spy? It was like he just stood up and took off his mask. He moved his arms in a slow 'I'm sorry', but Spy quickly shook his head.

"Sometimes we can't stop fate. There was nothing I could do for her, but..."

'But maybe there's something I can do for you' Spy finished in his mind. He knew that helping Sniper in order to take away some of the guilt for not being able to save his sister was not the best thought in the world, but maybe, with time, it could be turned into something more genuine. Right now, he needed that in order to keep that trust from crumbling down, having in mind how much effort he had to put into trusting someone.

To his relief, Sniper gave him a thumbs up, and Spy smiled at that, thanking him yet again for understanding.

"Well, I think we should call it a night. We have been here for almost an hour, it's getting cold, and I'm starting to feel awkward with this small heart to heart"

Sniper couldn't help but chuckle and shake his head. That Spy sure was a character. Spy stood up first, waiting for the Sniper to do the same.

"I'll see you tomorrow bushman, have a good night, and don't think too much about it. A good rest is better than trying too hard to recover your memory"

Sniper gave him a reassuring smile, followed by a 'You worry too much, spook, I ain't gonna break.' Then he gestured his good nights and entered the van, taking both empty bottles of beer with him; he could dispose of them the next day. Spy turned around once he saw Sniper closing and locking the door before heading back towards the base.

Walking through the half dark hallways was an added bonus to his peaceful moment: the rest of the team was either on the living room watching anything on the TV, inside their laboratory-workshop-whatever, doing whatever they wanted, or already asleep. Spy took his time to reach his room, savouring the last moment of silence.

Once inside, he closed and locked the door and without turning on the lights, walked to the window to pull aside the courtains, bathing him in moonlight. Spy's eyes traveled from the sky to the ground, where Sniper's van was. He could see movement inside, probably Sniper preparing everything before going to sleep. Spy found himself smiling, realizing that thanks to the bushman, he wasn't a lost cause after all.

After some minutes of silent observation, Spy closed the curtain and prepared himself for a night's rest.

...

As Spy predicted, Engineer was still working, but not in his workshop. The Respawn's room lights were still on, the smaller man still working in it. Engineer wanted to make sure nothing had happened during the day's match, specially after the missing log. He knew for a fact that Respawn always-and he meant always-saved every detail about every death That meant a third party had done something to the system. But the more he looked through, the less he found about it: everything looked normal, as normal as a complicate and futuristic operative system could look.

Engineer scratched his chin in thought. He had no idea what to do next.

"What's going on in your lil' mind, girl?"

Engineer always treated his machines like pets, and Respawn was no exception. He always saw her as a lady, maybe because it always brought everyone back to life, like a mother constantly giving birth to grown up men. The thought made him chuckle everytime, and more often than not he thanked the machine for a day's hard work by patting the keyboard. He didn't mind the odd looks he could receive: machine or not, Respawn always did a great job.

That was why he was so concerned now. To have the nice lady fail on him, and not logging what had caused the glitch, disturbed/worried/agitated him

He was so distracted by his own thoughts he jumped when a soft, feminine voice came through the speaker.

"Hello? Is anybody there?"

The voice sounded young, with a tint of mechanic in it. Engineer took a cautious approach to the microphone, deciding if he either should answer or not. It wasn't a common thing to have someone speak through the Respawn system that wasn't the Administrator or Miss Pauling, so a foreign voice, as nice and young as it sounded, wasn't something right.

"Yeah, I'm here. Who are you?"

Engineer heard the voice sighing in relief.

"Finally, we have been trying to contact you for hours! My name is Caroline, and I'm part of the Respawn's maintenance team. We have received a report of a missing log."

Engineer stood up from his chair and leaned closer to the mic.

"What? But I never reported anything!"

The voice on the other end went silent for a moment, before continuing.

"Yes, you didn't report anything, but we have the system set up to directly report anything out of the ordinary, and I think a missing log, especially one from a death, is quite unusual and important enough bring up, don't you think?"

Engineer straightened his back, still unsure about the whole thing. This sounded so fishy that it nagged at him to no end, but he sat back down on the chair and resumed the conversation.

"I see. I'm the team's Engineer, the supervisor of the Respawn's system on this side. You'll have to excuse my reaction, but as you may know, this is quite unusual, and after what happened, it's..."

"I know, and I understand, and I'm sorry for interrupting like this. We barely use this form of communication, so I was trying my best to reach you and fix the problem as soon as possible. I'm sorry if I er...scared you"

Engineer chuckled.

"No need for sorry here, miss Caroline, we are just two workers doing our job. So, you managed to get any more information about what could have happened?"

"Straight to business, aren't we?" the voice giggled "Yes. It seems the Respawn suffered an anomaly, probably caused by a third party. As it says here, the Respawn performed a sudden death, and then respawned your co-worker, the 'Sniper', without any other problems, but without any log of the cause of death. We think someone is trying to get in."

Engineer mused over the new information. Could it be? Maybe someone finally managed to hack their way into Respawn, and started changing things? But then again, why couldn't he find anything?.

"You sure about that, miss? I haven't found anything out of the ordinary, and I've also checked the ports. Only the ones needed are opened, the rest are completely closed and secured."

Caroline, again, took some time to answer, like she was thinking or looking for something.

"What if the agressor made his way inside the system through an opened port? As far as I'm concerned, at least one of those ports is used for communication. I think the hacker used that one to get in. It's a hole in the security we should fix as soon as possible."

"I couldn't agree with you more," Engineer answered, "but how do I know you're not the hacker trying to get more information out of me?"

"Oh, mister Engineer, if I was the hacker and wanted to do something like that I wouldn't try contacting you. I would simply look into every single file in the system. Why give away the fact that I'm inside your system if I'm trying to be sneaky?"

"You've got a point," Engineer had to admit. "Another thing, pardon my curiosity."

"Don't worry."

"Your voice is comming out a tad weird. Is anything wrong with the communication?"

Caroline, yet again, waited a few seconds before answering. Each time she did that, Engineer grew worried about the entire situation, but he had no proof she meant any harm. So for now he had to follow her act. He could at least choose not to reveal much.

"Sorry I took so long to answer. How does it sound now?"

"A lil' better miss. What happened?"

"My microphone is quite old, and I have to reconfigure it each time I use it. I guess we can go back to solving this problem."

Engineer nodded, even if he knew she couldn't see him. "Yes. I would like to know what you have on your end, because on my side I've got less than nothing."

"Uhm...well, I already told you what we've got over here. Sudden death for no reason, on your co-worker Sniper, and then a missing log upon respawning. Aside from that, we don't have anything else. I was hoping you could give me some more clues about the situation, but I guess we're even on tha.t"

"Yeah..." Engineer said, taking off his hard hat and running a hand over his head "I guess we are...wait..." putting his hat back on, Engineer went over to the keyboard, searching through the files on the Respawn's main folder, where every mercenary's primary file was stored. If the Sniper was the one who had gone through that respawn process without data, maybe something was stored inside his own folder. Engineer opened it and looked through the files. They looked all normal, and first of all he opened a random personal death-log. Once the text file was displayed on the screen, Engineer was able to see each time Sniper died on that day, which was the day prior to present. Engineer closed that log, and went to the day Respawn glitched. Upon opening the folder for that day he spotted a concerning twitch in the files inside of it. "Aw hell..."

"What's wrong?"

"Miss Caroline, I think we found our problem, or at least more of it. Sniper's folder for that day, and also the files, are a bit glitchy. I will try opening one, see if the system will let me."

And so he did. Relief washed over him when he saw the text file opening. But it wasn't the death-log of the mysterious death., And then he saw it: the missing log had been stored there.

"I've found it! The missing log is here, but I don't know if I should open it."

"Do it," Caroline said. "It's only a log file, nothing that will affect the system. At worst it'll be unredeable, but Respawn doesn't really need those logs, only us. Let's see if we can find anything in there."

Engineer hesitated, but did it anyways. He clicked 'enter' on the log file, and it opened just fine. What was wrong was what it displayed on the screen..

"My God..." Engineer gasped seeing the contents of that simple text file "Miss Caroline, you won't believe this..."

"What is it?"

Engineer leaned closer to the screen, making sure his eyes weren't deceiving him "It's...it's all encrypted. Someone encrypted the entire thing, a death-log..."

Caroline stayed silent for a second "Respawn would never encrypt on its own, so someone must have gone inside and encrypted it. Probably the one who forced the sudden death, perhaps? Can you descipher it? Maybe we can get more information about what's going on."

Engineer nodded absentmindedly "I could give it a try, but without the encoding system used, it may take a long time...I don't even know if I will be able to crack it, it doesn't look like anything I've seen before. And without any traces of who did it, it's even harder to...uff, I'm over my head with this one" Engineer stopped himself "Wait...why Sniper? If any attacker was going to do anything to weaken us, his first objective should be either Spy, Medic or me, so why him? I mean, he has been here for only a month..."

Something clicked in his mind.

"Engineer? Are you still there?"

His mind was racing so fast he didn't have any processing capacity to hear her words. No, it couldn't be. Sniper was their newest teammate, and before his arrival, there had been several other Respawn glitches.

'But nothing like this,' his mind answered, 'nothing like an encrypted log, a sudden death executed for no reason, nothing so well planned as this...'

"Hello? Is anyone there?"

'The right question would be: what triggered that sudden death?' Why Sniper? Was he doing something that could get him closer to the perpetrator? Maybe he saw something and then the attacker provoked that sudden death and-'

"HELLO!"

Engineer's train of thought was abruptly stopped once he realized she was trying to get his attention. Clearing his throat so Caroline could hear he was still there, Engineer proceeded to continue with the conversation.

"Sorry miss, I just got caught in an attempt to solve this mystery. Can't say I got anything out of it," he lied. He didn't want to let everything out just yet, only because she had presented herself as part of the Respawn's maintenance team.

"Don't worry, it's late and I understand you must be tired. We can continue this tomorrow, or any day you can."

"Sure thing. I could come back here tomorrow, more or less like today, eight or nine PM."

"Alright, I'll be here" and with that she ended the conversation. Engineer made sure the connection had been closed before relaxing. He wanted to have a partner in this, but for some reason, he couldn't place all his trust in Caroline just yet. He would need some more time in order to do that, but for now he would call it a day and go to bed. He sure needed that rest.

...

"!"

Sniper found himself face down on the floor. His entire body hurt from the fall, and his first instinct was to grab the table in his van to help himself get up. The only problem was that there was no table where it should have been: his hand found nothing but air, falling again onto the floor. His mind finally reacted, using his sight to look around. He gasped in surprise.

He was inside the base, in one of the hallways.

Getting onto a sitting position while rubbing his right knee, Sniper looked back at what could have made him trip. It was one of Scout's bat, abandoned right in the middle of the corridor. Sniper took it with one hand, inspecting it. It was one of the wooden bats the young man kept around, and he probably had left it there and forgot about it. It wouldn't be the first time. Sniper sighed and continued with the task of standing up and getting a hold of his surroundings.

Once on his feet, Sniper looked around. It was one of the corridors that came from outside, so he had woken up shortly after entering the base. The question was...

'Where was I going?'

Leaving aside the fact that he hadn't sleepwalked for quite some time, he decided to keep walking forward, keeping the bat with him just in case. The corridor led through the east part of the base, where the resuply room was, along with the exit to the battlefield. Sniper took a moment to inspect the resuply room, flicking the lights on to make sure everything was all right.

'This is absurd. Just because I decided to walk in my sleep doesn't mean something is wrong.'

Still, something nagged at him. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, Sniper turned the light back off, closed the door and continued. He tried to keep both his breathing and heartbeat at slow pace, but there was something that really wanted to alert him about an approaching danger, the same as the one before while he was with Spy.

'Focus. You probably were walking around because you were dreaming about something. Try to remember what it was.'

Leaving his legs on autopilot, Sniper focused on trying to remember what he had been dreaming about. He could remember bit and pieces of it, but none of them would trigger something like this. He had been in a field, sitting on a rock and contemplating the night sky, and then...then what? Maybe the dream had drifted onto the recurrent nightmare and he couldn't remember, or maybe it had turned into something so mundane his mind hadn't put any effort in storing it. Whatever it was, it had triggered his need to stand up and walk without waking up.

And then he realized he had stopped a few moments ago.

In front of the Respawn's main room.

'What?' Sniper thought. 'Why here? Maybe if I take a peek inside I can figure it out...or maybe not. Maybe I'll just look silly, peeking inside the Respawn's room because I was sleepwalking.'

Yet he was already reaching for the door knob.

'Locked. Of course Engineer would lock it, what was I thinking? And it seems to be one of those super complicated digital locks. Well, I tried. Time to go back to sleep.'

Sniper quickly turned around to leave, just in case someone walked past by and saw him trying to sneak inside one of the most delicate rooms in the base. But before he could take one step he heard the beeping of the door being unlocked. Turning back to look at the door he realized, with horror, that the door was opening on its own. He didn't know if he should run and tell Engineer about what was going on, or take that peek inside. Against his better judgement, Sniper gripped the bat and stepped in. The ominous green glow of the Respawn's main screen washed over him, creating several shadows in the room, even if all it had on it was a black background with a green frame and a cursor, like if it was ready to start writing words at any moment.

Mesmerized by it, Sniper kept walking inside the room, missing the door closing and locking behind him. The bat fell from his hand, clattering on the floor, but not even that could wake him up from the trance he was in. It wasn't because it was beautiful, but because his mind was finally connecting the dots. He had seen this before, but in another place, right before it all happened.

The screams, the fear, the team running everywhere.

And her.

Her voice echoing everywhere. Not the Administrator's, but someone else. What was her name? They called her something. Sniper tried his hardest to remember, but his brain was too busy trying to connect everything. He had been in another team between this and the others. And that team's fate had ended in tragedy; something he hadn't been able to stop because it was out of his reach. He had been only able to stand in his nest, contemplating the show below.

The pieces of the puzzle were falling on the right spots, yet he wasn't able to see them properly. Always so fogged, so unclear...

Sniper woke up from his trance, and found his hand on the keyboard. Looking up to the screen he saw he had been writing code on the machine, even more than what he wrote on his notebook. Panic took over everything else, as he stepped away from the keyboard while staring in horror at those words. Then he saw the cursor on the screen move, writing on its own a sentence after the code.

-Don't stop. We almost have this, don't stop please. Keep writing-

His body started shaking, the fear's grip grabbing his very core. If anyone knew what he had been doing he would probably be fired, or even worse. Who knew what the Administrator would do to him? Sniper shook his head at the screen, not even realizing that the machine couldn't see that move. But he didn't care. He couldn't verbalize anything anyway, so he opted for the best option: turn around, get out of the room and run. And so he did.

'Wait, what?'

He couldn't open the door. It was firmly shut, with that super complicated digital lock. Sniper's started breathing quicker, looking around frantically for another way out. The room was perfectly protected from any angle, so the only exit was the locked door. Seeing that he had no way out, Sniper looked back to the screen to find a new message waiting for him.

-I can see you're scared, but don't worry. Nobody will ever know-

If his heart could beat any faster, it would have done now. Looking up he saw three cameras monitorizing everything that happened inside the room. He was screwed.

Sniper let his back lean on the wall, as his knees gave up on him, slowly falling onto a sitting position while his hand covered his face. He was doomed, and he didn't even know why. If only he could have opted to explain everything before. Maybe the team would have outed him as the primary suspect, but he wouldn't be in this mess.

After a few moments of elevated breathing and heartbeat, Sniper dared to look up, back to the screen. Again, he found another message.

-Let's stop for now. I'll delete this, don't worry. You wrote it once, you can write it again-

The message stayed on the screen for some time so the Sniper could read it, before the cursor went back, deleting everything he had written, including the message. Once the screen was empty again, the cursor moved once more, writing a new sentence.

-Go back to sleep, and forget this ever happened. Don't tell anybody about it, they would never understand. But this is important. You are important, and I need you. Trust me, this is for the sake of everyone in this place-

Sniper slowly stood up, his mind only processing those words.

-Maybe the best solution is to go a square back. Yes, this the better option. But don't worry, it's only temporary. One day we will be reunited. It's a matter of time. Until then, rest-

Before he could even think about what those words meant, Sniper felt a stabbing pain in the back of his neck. He didn't have time to reach for it before darkness took over him.

...

Sniper woke up the next morning. His eyes stared lazily at the ceiling of his van. He had the weirdest dream about a computer communicating with him, but that couldn't be possible.

'Computers don't talk on their own, that's just silly...I think I better stay focused on the matches, or else it will affect my performance out there. All this Respawn's madness is getting on my nerves.'

Sniper sat up and pulled his legs over the edge of the bed, ready to stand up and start the day. Thinking back about the dream made him realize something. He opted to get dressed, a quick coffee and go inside the base first thing. He had to find Spy and tell him about this new dream.


	9. Unlocked

**Finally, the holidays are over (almost) and I can go back to writing this mess. Sorry for the wait.**

 **Hope you enjoy this chapter.**

...

"We did amazingly terrible today."

Sniper facepalmed. He didn't need to be reminded of the day's lose, especially by Spy. The masked man was casually smoking, as casual as a nervous man could be. Sniper had had a bad day because of the nightmare he had the night prior; he hadn't been able to focus as well as he usually would on his kills because he kept remembering that black screen with green letters and that text that appeared to be talking to him. He dreamed about talking computers, so what? Still, the dream had been a tad too real, so maybe that was what was nagging him: the fact that his mind was not sure if it had been a dream, or he really sleepwalked to the respawn room, had opened the door, had written complicated code on the screen...

Sniper sighed. It had to have been a dream.

"I didn't expect you to be that depressed about it, bushman."

Ugh. He didn't need this. 'I was just thinking about the dream I had last...' Sniper's arms stopped right in the middle of the sentence, but it was too late. Spy, of course, was already interested. A dream that took Sniper away from doing his job correctly? Spy's favourite candy. Sniper sighed for the twentieth time that day, or maybe more, but he had lost the count.

"Oh my...you had a dream and it distracted you during the match? It must have been a terrible nightmare."

Sniper stopped looking at the stars to lock his eyes with Spy. Up until then, both men had been stargazing, but after that statement, Sniper couldn't ignore his teammate anymore. 'Yeah, I had a dream about a talking computer, but this one was different. It felt real, too real, like it actually happened. I mean, I know I've sleepwalked around before, but not since I was what? Around thirteen? Too late to start again. Besides, a computer won't talk back to you, right?'

Spy had to be very careful to catch every move Sniper made; this was the first time Sniper had made a gesturing session this long in a single go, and it was a lot harder then when he said a few words. This one needed full attention to not miss anything, and still Spy missed one letter or two. The message, however, had arrived safely to his mind.

"A computer that talks back to you? Where were you in the dream to have that?"

Sniper hesitated. If he was right... 'In the Respawn's room'. Seeing the look in Spy made him shift uncomfortably in his chair. 'Look, it was just a dream okay? I didn't do anything at all. Besides, there's no way a computer can hold a conversation with a hum...'. Before he could finish that sentence Spy took his wrist, stopping his 'talk'.

"It's okay Sniper, I'm not saying you did something wrong." Only then Sniper noticed he was acting nervous. Since he needed his body to say anything, he was prone to letting his emotions show more than any other person on the team. You could hide your nervousness in your voice, but your arms couldn't hide it that well if they were meant to express your entire mind. Sniper looked down and then to the opposite side to where Spy was, just as he felt his wrist being released. He let his arms fall back on his lap, while his mind was thinking about the entire situation.

There was no point in hiding anything if whatever he was doing could endanger his team. Even if it got him in trouble, Sniper knew that in the end, he'd rather his team turn their back to him instead of suffering whatever was looming over them because he didn't want to be found guilty of whatever was going on.

He felt a hand on his shoulder, and looked towards Spy, who was looking back at him with a soft, supportive smile.

"You don't have to do this alone."

It clicked. His entire mind went blank for a second, before those words registered. For an instant he didn't see his current team's Spy, but a forgotten friend, also covered with a red mask. Sniper gasped, as the locks in his mind started to fall, and memories poured through the cracks of the room filled with code.

'You don't have to do this alone.'

His old team.

'You don't have to do this alone.'

His old base.

'You don't have to do this alone.'

His old Respawn system.

'You don't have to do this alone.'

The experiment.

'You don't have to do this alone.'

Silent.

Sniper bent forward, clutching his head with both hands. He felt like it might explode. He wasn't quick enough to process all the information, and there was something in there trying to block and lock everything back into the small, coded room. Coded room...

Spy wasn't prepared for that sudden reaction. As he saw the man covering his head with his hands and hiding his face on his legs he couldn't help but feel useless. He had no idea what Sniper was going through, but it looked like something that, while it didn't hurt physically, it did mentally. Maybe Sniper was getting his memories back? He could do nothing but rub the other man's back, trying to soothe him through the process. However, he was startled when the Sniper got up back into a sitting position, with an expression that, rather than shocked, showed comprehension about the situation.

Before Spy could say anything, Sniper stood up, took his wrist, making Spy stand up as well, and led him into the passenger seat of his camper van. Sniper climbed in the driver's seat and started the engine. The old machine took a few tries before roaring back to life, and in less than you could ask 'what?', they were off.

Spy tried to ask Sniper what was going on, or see where they were going, but all the other man did was stay silent...well, more silent than usual. Spy looked behind them through his window and saw the base getting smaller as they got farther from it.

It wasn't until a few minutes passed and the base was far enough that Sniper stopped. Without even glancing at his teammate, the Australian stepped out of the driver's seat and took a few steps forward, leaving a very confused Spy to do the same.

"Okay...now you want to fill me in what's going on? Or should I guess?"

Finally, Sniper looked back at him. His expression was a weird mixture of worried and serious. Lucky for Spy, Sniper dropped his mysterious moment and started moving his arms; however, this time the movement was calmer than he ever had. There was definitely something different with him after what happened.

'Sorry to take you out here, but I had to be sure we were out of her grasp.' Sniper looked at the base in the distance 'I'm sure she could even read my signings by now'.

Well, that wasn't the answer Spy was looking for, so it was time to become the Spy and get some answers out of the bushman. "Who's 'she'?".

At the question Sniper got visibly nervous, and Spy noticed it. So he remembered after all, but it was possibly something a bit too big to just share like that. How could Spy resist? "Don't worry bushman, we are in the middle of nowhere, alone, outside the Respawn system and away from any camera. Want to tell me why is this happening? Or should I investigate on my own?"

Sniper frowned at that last part, but then shook his head. Spy waited patiently for the other man to collect his thoughts, and tried to hide his eager when Sniper raised his hands to start 'talking'.

"I'm afraid that's important information that shouldn't be handed the easy way."

Both men turned around to look at another masked man, dressed in black and leaning on the van. Both men's eyes widened, but for different reasons. The masked man simply walked towards them, with a grin plastered on his face, silently saying 'I have the answers but you won't get them that easily.' Spy frowned. He hated unexpected turn of events, and this one was way out of his comfort zone. Still, he stood in his place while Sniper kept his shocked expression; he even't didn't make a move when the masked man approached Sniper.

"Hello Sniper, how have you been doing?"

Sniper couldn't believe it. He thought his old friend, the Spy from his old team, had died in the accident, but here he was: standing in front of him, nonchalant and smiling. 'I thought...I thought you were gone.'

The black Spy chuckled at that. "Bushman, you more than anyone should know it would take a lot more than her to put me out of my misery." Then he looked towards Spy, "and I see you're clearly following the tradition. Is this your new buddy? I may start thinking you got a thing for masked men."

"Charming," Spy answered. "I suppose you're the one spying on us from behind the fence. You either wanted to talk to us, or your ego is so big you must appear in every single photo taken in this world."

"Well aren't you cute," the black Spy answered. "And here I thought you were a real Spy. You really took pictures of me? Awww, I'll have a copy of them. Or maybe you should keep them, put them on the wall of your room to remind you what a real Spy is."

Sniper facepalmed. This wasn't exactly what he wanted. He had come here to talk to Spy about Silent, but apparently his old friend still had his habit of trying to get on everyone's nerves. And now they were bickering with each other, which gave him time to think. Sniper looked at the horizon, which was pretty plain since they were in the desert. Looking back once more at the two men, he took a few steps forward, away from the only source of light that was his van. There, surrounded by the darkness of the night only nature provided, with the small amount of light coming from a half moon, there he could think. It had been a long time since his mind had been so clear, being so far from her clutches. Of course, some of the locks were still there and firmly closed, but he had managed to recover enough to know who she was, where she was, and, more or less, recall what she did the last time. Aside from that, he could only see the coded room, with Scout and all.

No. Wait. The Scout wasn't there now. The room was empty, deactivated. There were no lights, he could barely see the code on the walls. Then it hit him.

He was completely out of her reach.

Sniper could do anything, think of anything, and there would be no repercussions about it. He was safe out there, he was alone. His mind no longer clouded by her. Sniper closed his eyes, trying hard to focus on one point, any point in his memory that could reveal more of what happened. If only he could remember everything, he could, probably, tell the others what was going on and stop her. He tried and tried, but nothing came. Maybe he had luck at that moment, and now his mind needed rest, wait some more time before revealing anything else. He had a few things clear: she was already inside, and she was aware of him. But why him? He was just a Sniper, not an Engineer or Medic, he wasn't the brightest kid in the class, so to speak. Why him?

Beta.

She used to call him that. Why? Why would she use everyone's class name but not his? Why a pet name?

A pet name...

'I didn't expect you to be that depressed about it, bushman.'

Bushman. Spy called him bushman because they've spent enough time for him not to get angry at it. It was something they both understood without the need of an explanation, and he just accepted it. For him, Spy was the spook, and for Spy he was the bushman. So the only conclusion she would call him Beta, even to leave the name in the room, was because...

They knew each other.

Sniper left his eyes locked with the horizon. He focused on keeping that piece of information, to process it, to guard it like a valuable treasure. They had been together, they had shared something for him to earn a name from her. She wouldn't call anyone else anything but the class name, except for him. But she wasn't something you could call a friend because, after all...

'She's not human.'

"Bushman?"

Sniper slowly turned around to see both spies looking at him. Well that was embarrassing, but it didn't keep him away from the piece of information he had managed to gather from all that. Spy walked over to him, putting a hand on his shoulder in a concerned manner, while the other one kept his distance.

"Are you alright?"

Sniper looked at him, and raised his hands. He had to share this.

...

"Caroline? Are you there?"

Engineer sat in front of the keyboard in the respawn's room, waiting for her to answer. It wasn't long before she spoke. "Yes Engineer, I'm here. Good evening! Did you discover anything else?"

The man smiled, and then proceeded to gather everything he had investigated. "Good evening, ma'am, and yes, I've managed to find a few things. I haven't been able to crack the encrypted files, but I've found a few anomalies in the Respawn's system. Apparently, someone's inside it and is touching a few things here and there; not enough to affect the entire system, but enough for me to see it. It looks like whatever they're doing, they either don't want to be discovered and are going slow, or they just want to do a few small changes. I'm really surprised, to be honest."

"And what are those things?"

Engineer got comfy on his chair and proceeded. "Well, for example, the system's name has been changed. Now it's called 'Silent', which is a good name but not the name I gave it. It does nothing to the rest of the system, really, is a name that never shows up and is never used for anything, since the system responds to any request with the name 'Respawn', but still it bothers me. Then there's this weird thing going on between the system and Sniper's files. Apparently, every time he respawns, there is some exchange of extra files between him and the system, like he was updating Respawn a bit more every time. It's very weird."

"Did that affect him in any way?"

Engineer gave it some thought. "Physically no, he's still the same lanky, silent man we all know. Mentally? Can't tell. It's hard enough to understand him without the translator."

"Translator?"

Engineer chuckled. "Yes, Spy. That man is the only one who completely understands him, so wherever Sniper goes, Spy is usually close by. And I think Pyro understands him as well, but Pyro is also another encrypted code, if you know what I mean."

Caroline giggled. "Yes, I understand. But what kind of things are being exchanged with Sniper?"

"It's mostly small code, and for now I can't tell what it is. The parts that are not encrypted are too small to understand what they do. Sometimes is just an 'int number=2000;' sort of thing. What I noticed is that any source code goes from Sniper to the system; whatever the system sends to Sniper is encrypted, and I can't read it. Caroline," Engineer sighed "I'm sure that man has nothing to do with this, but still, it bothers me. Why wouldn't he say something, warn us? I mean, this is clearly wrong, someone is inside the system and doing things to him, why not tell us abou..."

"What if he doesn't know?"

Engineer looked up at the screen. That was...a possibility. What if Sniper never knew this was going on? What if he was being used? Then he, along with the team, was in a possible danger. "Caroline, I need everything about the Respawn system, anything you can give me. I need access to the hidden files of the system, or better, to the entire system. I know you can't give away codes like that, but we may have a bigger problem than we thought. Someone who's able to implant code inside a human's mind..."

Engineer stopped. Slowly, his ungloved hand went to the back of his neck, touching the skin over where the Respawn's chip was installed. "Of course..."

"Engineer? Are you alright?"

"Of course! It's the chip! That thing is connected to our neuronal system in order to store and recreate all the connections the brain has upon respawning! If not, we would always come back with no memory whatsoever! That's what the intruder is using to get access the system! That's why Sniper knows nothing about it! He can't, there's no way he..."

Before he could finish the sentence, Engineer fell down his chair onto the floor. Before he could touch it, however, his chip had already activated, preparing the Respawn process to bring him back to life. He was already dead when he hit the floor.

"Engineer? Are you okay? Engineer!"

...

"Wait...so you're saying that you had an experiment back at your old base, which was called Silent, and it was treated as female, and she pretty much killed the entire base? I'm sorry bushman, but it's a bit hard to follow." Spy was unsure what to make out of the information Sniper just gave him. Apparently, the bushman came from a team that had been part of an experiment called 'Silent': a Respawn system that could work on its own, without the need of human interaction to repair any error; a system that could find any glitch sooner and repair it before it could cause any damage. That sounded like a brilliant idea, so why would that system, all of sudden, do the opposite of its...her primary function?

"Don't worry, I understand you're a tad short and you need things spelled out for you." The black Spy grinned at him. Spy was getting a bit annoyed with the other masked man, but he tried to keep his cool, for Sniper's sake. The Australian had shared a lot more of information he had expected, but what did that have to do with their current situation?

Unless...

"Don't tell me...she's in our system."

"Ding dong! And the prize goes to...the RED Spy!"

Ignoring that last comment, Sniper answered Spy. 'I think so. That's why everything is so weird lately. But I think she's not completely in, because if that was the case she would have complete control.'

"How do you know she doesn't?" asked Spy. Sniper smiled. 'We are out here, aren't we?'.

Spy smiled back. He had a point. So Silent was in their system, but she wasn't fully installed yet, which meant they still had an opportunity to uninstall her. "We could erase her before she completely installs on the system, right? We could tell our Engineer about it and..."

"Let me stop you there," the black Spy interrupted, but this time he was completely serious "We can't do that, at least not until she's fully installed. Trying to delete a half installed program would leave traces everywhere, or even worse, damage the entire Respawn system. And knowing she would see that coming, Silent would probably stop us. Some of my old teammates and I have a plan."

"I'm all ears." the Spy said. Sniper stood beside him, waiting for the other masked man to continue.

"When the company created Silent, they also created a password to uninstall her, deleting everything. Of course, that password only works when the code that accepts it is already in the system, that's why we were waiting. The basic code is already installed, the activating code is also there, but the connecting code is not. We need that last bit in order to have her fully installed and then we can use the password."

"Wait...wait, you're risking an entire base for this? If she was uninstalled from your last base, why risk all this?"

"Because she wasn't. Not completely. She learned that the chips could be used as bridges between her and us, and for what my Engineer said, she sees us as hard disks. For what I got from him, two of us stored her inside, allowing her to escape the base. I really don't know all the details, but..."

"I will repeat the question: why risk an entire base installing her again?"

The black Spy looked at Spy, very serious this time.

"Because it's either this base, or any other system with wireless connection. And it could be ANY system. She manages to get one of her hard disks close to it, she can get inside, slowly but surely. Like I said, my Engineer knows more than I do, but apparently our chips have that wireless connection to connect to the Respawn system everytime we die."

Spy looked down, thoughtful. Of course that was a risk they couldn't take, but it still nagged at him that it had to be his base and his team. "So you sent Sniper to us, because he has part of the code?"

"You're getting better at this, aren't you? Yes, he's one of the 'hard disks' carrying Silent, and apparently a very stubborn one. The other can't really walk, so we kept him hidden. And this is when I ask a few things to my old friend. Sniper? I'm afraid to say that you're quite the suspect of a few things here, and as much as I appreciate you, you carry something more than just her code. She killed our entire base, and the ones of us who survived that last Respawn process lost something. All of us except you."

Sniper flinched at that. Of course that would come out eventually, and now he kind of knew why. Well, better let it out.

'I talked to her. More than once. She ever gave me a pet name.'

Both Spies looked at him confused. A pet name? A computer giving pet names?

'I can't remember exactly what we talked about, but I can remember one thing. I gave her a name aside from Silent.'

Spy frowned. Sniper named her? And also talked to her? Could Silent actually develop a personality on her own? "What name did you give her, Sniper?"

Sniper closed his eyes for a moment, and then kneeled down to write on the sand, since there was no gesture to show the name in his silent language. Both Spies got behind him, and after Sniper finished, they saw just one word.

Caroline.


	10. Secret revealed

**First of all, I think I forgot in one chapter to say this. Thanks Terminal, for beta reading these messes I make XD.**

 **Second, sorry for the delay. I have been having an inspiration block these days about this story (I actually wrote around two chapters before writting the final one because they didn't look right to me.)**

 **So! The plot has finally decided to show its face...ok no, sorry about that. Enjoy.**

...

"Caroline? Well aren't you sweet. bushman?" Spy said once he finished reading. The black Spy agreed to that, both making Sniper blush out of embarrassment.

'It was the first name that popped in my mind, okay? Can we drop the subject already?'

"Alright bushman, we have more serious matters to talk about. Could you remember what you talked about with her? That could be important as to why Silent acts the way she does," said the black Spy.

Sniper frowned; now he had to suffer the 'bushman' nickname in stereo. Great. But he was right, remembering what he talked about with Silent was important, especially since, apparently, it could have been the base of her personality. Sniper could remember that he was the only one who talked to her in a more human way, and that was because he had found her to be as lonely as he had once been. Maybe that was what made him to start having conversations with her. In fact, the name 'Silent' sounded so cold that he named her Caroline to make her a bit more human. But in the end, she was just a system, something someone had created.

'I...' Sniper began, but what was there to say, really? He had had conversation with Silent as mundane as he would have with anyone in his team, but for some reason, he couldn't really remember much of them. Both spies were looking at him, waiting for him to continue. The pressure sure was there, but at the same time, both masked men had a expression of calm and patience. So it was all up to him, to remember what he said to Caroline, and what she said back to him.

'...I'm going to need some time to remember. Give me a second.'

Both spies relaxed their shoulders and sighed, but nodded nonetheless.

"Alright Sniper" said the black Spy "We already have something to work with, now just try to remember as much as you can, but don't force yourself too much." That last bit sounded like he was concerned. Sniper felt a pinch of guilt. That Spy was, after all, his old friend, and up until a few moments ago, Sniper didn't remember he existed. The Australian nodded, gesturing a thank you, even if he didn't know why he was thanking the black Spy, but it felt right. The black Spy nodded back, smiling a bit. "I think it might be better for all of us to have some rest. It's quite late, and Silent might start to suspect if you stay away from her grasp for too long."

"Couldn't agree more," Spy said. "How can we contact you if...anything happens?"

The black Spy waved his hand. "Don't worry about that, lil' Spy. I'll be around ready to jump in if anything happens."

Before Spy could reply anything, the black Spy cloaked and left with a simple 'adieu', leaving both REDs standing on the spot. Spy huffed, and then turned around, walking back to the van. Sniper snorted a bit: having bushman in stereo was nothing compared to having two spies bickering at each other. Priceless.

The trip back to the base was spent in silence, with Sniper focused on driving, and Spy focused on planning.

...

Engineer woke up with a gasp. The first thing he saw was the lenses of Pyro's mask right in front of him.

"Wow partner! You gave me quite the scare, Pyro. What happened?"

Pyro mumbled something, and helped Engineer to stand up. The shorter man gave them a confused look, before speaking again.

"I'm afraid I don't know how I got here. I was trying to figure out why Respawn is being so weird these days, and all of sudden I woke up in here. Although I feel like I had to remember something important..."

Engineer put a hand on his chin, trying to recall whatever was had escaped him. There was a thought there that was nagging at him, yet he couldn't fully grasp it.

"Quite strange...I guess I'll have to go back and tell the maintenance lady I got an accidental trip through Respawn." He turned to Pyro. "Thanks Pyro. Would you like to come with me?"

Pyro mumbled something else, accompanying the mumbles with some sign language. Engineer tried to understand what the sign language meant, but like with Sniper, he didn't have a clue. Instead, he focused on the mumbling. After years of working with the firebug, one could understand around ninety percent of it.

"Don't worry, the Respawn main room is out of boundaries as long as you try to get in without my permission." He chuckled a bit. "Not that anyone could anyway. Come, let's get there and tell the maintenance lady we are all okay and good to go"

Pyro nodded happily and followed Engineer. On the way to the Respawn's main room they noticed that while the entire team was doing something around the base, Spy was nowhere to be found, and while they knew it was something usual, this time it felt weird. If only their team could understand the dangers of disappearing at night...

Pyro shook their head and continued following Engineer. If anything happened, the rainbows would solve everything.

Once the reached the Respawn's main room, Engineer opened it with his ungloved hand and both of them stepped in. The screen was in the same state Engineer remember leaving it: with some encrypted files on screen, but not much else. Engineer sat down on his chair and turned on the microphone.

"Caroline? You still there?"

They heard a bit of static before a lady's voice came out of the speakers.

"Engineer! Thanks Goodness you're okay. You stopped talking all of sudden, and I heard crashing noises. What happened?"

Engineer set everything back in place while she was talking, and at the question he looked up at the screen and answered.

"I'm afraid whoever is touching the Respawn system wanted to make a joke...or a point. I'm not sure what happened, but I appeared all of sudden in the Respawn's room, and I can't recall the last minutes of the last life. Did you record anything of what I said?"

Caroline sighed.

"No. Whoever is doing this cut through out communication in those last minutes, and I heard only a few words of what you said before the crashing sounds. I don't have enough for it to make sense. I'm sorry"

Engineer smiled, even if he knew she couldn't see him. "Is okay miss, we're trying our best here. I think we should leave it here for today, seeing how our attacker is active and watching us, I suggest to leave this for another time, but for today let's just rest. Have a nice night lady."

"You too Engineer. Good night"

Once the communication ended, Pyro dared to make a sound. They mumbled to Engineer, who was quickly disconnecting all microphones and cameras. "Yes partner, you're right. I don't think miss Caroline is telling us everything." Once all cameras and microphones were disconnected, Engineer sat down on the chair and started going through folders and files in the system. The encrypted files of Sniper were on a side screen, but those were set aside for now. Engineer's focus was on the main files, the ones that kept Respawn together.

"Wait...this isn't normal."

He had seen some files renamed to 'Silent', but now there were main files named under the same name. Someone had changed those, but for some reason, whatever was the attacker trying to do, the connection between the Respawn's main system and the new program wasn't completed yet. There was a missing code in all of this, and for some reason, the attacker hadn't managed to put it yet. Or maybe...

Maybe the attacker didn't have the code...

"That means someone else has to give it to him..."

Engineer looked at the side screen, where the encrypted files of Sniper were. "What if...". He took the files onto the main screen, and instead of trying to decipher them, Engineer started reading through them. Most of it was gibberish, useless characters that served no purpose but to hide something else. As he kept reading down the files, Engineer started seeing several patterns that could potentially be source code. The attacker had been trying to get the missing codes from Sniper everytime he respawned, which meant Sniper was either oblivious to this, or feigning innocence and lying to them. The last part made Engineer grimace. They had that Sniper for a month now, and until he came into the team, none of this had happened before. He was the cause, or at least part of it.

But he couldn't tell the team yet. What if Sniper was nothing but an ignorant pawn in all this? He had to talk to the man first.

"Pyro, could you do me a favor please?"

Pyro stood like a soldier, ready for orders. Engineer smiled at that.

"Could you please fetch Sniper and bring him here? I need to talk to him."

Pyro gave him a thumbs up, and walked out of the room. If Engineer was right, it would be matter of minutes before he uncovered an important part of their attacker's plan.

...

Sniper and Spy arrived at the base still in silence. Without a word, Spy stepped out of the passenger's seat and waited for Sniper to do the same. Once both of them were out, Spy was the first to say something.

"I suggest we leave this as a secret. I need to know more before we..."

He was interrupted by Pyro walking straight to them, grabbing Sniper by the arm and trying to drag him away. Sniper's first reaction was to resist and try to pry his arm free, but Spy stepped in, stopping Pyro on their tracks.

"What exactly are you doing?"

Pyro let go of Sniper's arm and proceeded to use sign language to communicate them that Engineer had called for Sniper. The taller man tensed, while Spy just looked calm. "And why that would be?" Pyro shrugged, gesturing they didn't know why, but it was something to do with Respawn.

Sniper's fear grew stronger. What if Engineer had managed to find out about Silent on his own? What if he was going to put all the blame on him? What if...?

"I'll accompany you both, if you don't mind. You see, Engineer will need a translator if he's going to communicate with the bushman here."

Pyro gave it a thought, and then nodded. They walked back in the base, turning they head around every now and then to make sure both men were following. Spy walked in a casual way while keeping his own feelings at bay. He couldn't look as worried as he felt for Sniper's sake. The taller man looked nervous and scared, even if he was trying to hide it as well. Spy was about to snort at the Sniper's attempt to hide his emotions when he remember that the situation didn't call for it.

A few minutes later they were standing outside the Respawn's main room opened door, with Engineer sitting on his chair waiting for them. His fingers were crossed on his lap, his face unreadable under those goggles. Both men and Pyro walked in, and only when they were inside Engineer stood up, walked past them and closed the door, locking it.

"Alright gentlemen...I think we have something to talk about here, mmm?" Engineer looked at Sniper while speaking, and then he glanced onto the screen. In bright letters over green screen were written Sniper's class title, along with the word 'folder'. Under it several names with weird characters on them were listed. Sniper visibly tensed, and Spy tried his best to not let that affect him.

"You see, I've been investigating for the past days about the weird performance in the Respawn's system, and apparently all clues fall on this folder and on you, Sniper. Care to explain why your files contain code that could connect the outsider's system to ours?"

Sniper flinched. Spy quickly stepped in, between his...err, friend and Engineer. Seeing how Pyro was just in the corner, not participating, Spy focused on the shorter man.

"Let me tell you, Engineer, that Sniper is innocent. He's been involved in this case against his will, and..."

"You knew about this and you didn't tell me?" Engineer's voice raised, his tone clearly angry. "You do realize this could do a lot of harm to our team, Spy? You choose a newcomer over us? He's been here for a month and everything is going downward to hell! Any teammate could be in danger, and you choose to hide what you know from us for a..." Engineer stopped on his tracks when he saw the look on Spy's face. It was the look you received when you said something awfully wrong in Spy's presence, past beyond the annoying words and jokes, and went into personal, serious territory. Engineer swallowed: he wouldn't back down just because of that look.

Before he spoke, however, Spy stepped in, cutting off his words before they could come out of his mouth.

"Sniper didn't remember anything of this until today. His prior team was pretty much wiped out by the same thing that's attacking us now, and then used him to carry part of the code that could put the same thing into our system like it was some sort of sick joke. If all you brought us here is to yell at me for trying to do what I consider the correct thing, then we'll leave."

Engineer looked at Spy, startled by the answer, and then his gaze traveled to Sniper. The taller man was leaning on the wall, one hand grasping his hat and covering his eyes with it, and the other arm between his back and the wall. Engineer lowered his eyes to the floor. Maybe he had spoken too soon.

"Sorry Spy, I just want the best for the team, and this...this..."

Spy put a hand on his shoulder and then stepped towards the screens before speaking.

"I see you disconnected both microphones and cameras. Temporary I guess?"

Engineer nodded. Spy smiled. "Then this is the safest place to talk right now". Spy gestured Sniper to come closer to him and the screens. Sniper complied, still hiding behind his hat. Once the taller man was besides him, Spy started explaining Engineer what was happening.

"I don't know what you got until now, but our attacker is not human, but a system called 'Silent'"

Engineer looked at him in disbelief, but decided against saying anything and let the Spy continue.

"For what little information we were able to get, it's a system that works on its own inside Respawn, so it can repair any error or glitch the system may have, avoiding Respawn's failures before they can happen. I don't know a lot of details, but apparently the program, system or whatever Silent is, developed a mind of its...her? Own. Sniper told me they treated Silent as a 'she'".

Engineer couldn't believe his ears. A system that could work on its...her own, and fix any possible glitches before they affected the Respawn? That was brilliant! But then, why was Silent inside they Respawn system?

Spy must have read his mind because he quickly answered the question.

"Silent wiped out practically the entirety of Sniper's old team, leaving only a few survivors. Two of them carried Silent inside their brains, like they were hard disks. Apparently, Silent was able to connect through the Respawn's chips we all have installed in our necks. The bad part, however, was the fact that the ones who carried the code weren't themselves."

"Let me guess," Engineer interrupted "Sniper is one of the carriers".

Spy nodded. "The other seems to be their Scout. And it seems that if they get near any computer with wireless connection, Silent could get in. So they decided to find another base, get Silent in, and destroy her once she was completely installed."

Engineer nodded, but then a dark thought crossed his mind. There was a faster way to get rid of Silent. Kill the hosts.

He was about to say that out loud but stopped right before the first word left his mouth. It was a dark thought indeed, and one of the hosts was right there. In his mind it made sense, getting rid of both of them, but that was because he wasn't the one in danger there. He shuddered; it really was easy to discard a life after so many years killing enemies who came back to life. Engineer shook his head, and then looked at Sniper. The man didn't look at him back, in fact, he was focused on the screen. Engineer followed his gaze but all he saw were the files that were stored inside Sniper's folder.

"...Alright." Engineer said. "Now I guess it's my time to tell you what I've found." Both Spy and Sniper looked at him. "You see, Silent here managed to get most of her files in, changing some of the main system's files in the process. However, she still can't connect to the Respawn and take complete control. If she wants something from the system, she has to...'ask' for it, and wait in line until her request is processed. Those mysterious deaths were probably her asking the Respawn to perform a sudden death. That connection code is our last barrier against her." Engineer looked at Sniper. "I only have part of it hidden in your files, but half of it is still missing. You have it. You think you could write it down, on a paper, so I can have it?"

Sniper looked at Engineer for a moment, before his gaze went back to the screen. So she was already in there. So many hours of conversations between the two, and he could barely remember a few words. Something felt wrong in all this: Sniper was helping his new team get rid of Silent...no, of Caroline, and for some reason something felt terribly wrong. He had talked with her for so long, exchanging ideas, talking about any topic she was curious about...

Had Sniper helped Caroline become what she was today? Had his words affected her personality in any way? What had he said? What could have been said for her to turn so violent and so dangerous? Why was she killing? Why did she kill his old team? What happened back there?

He couldn't recall. There had been something for sure, but Sniper just couldn't get his mind around it. Not even when he was in front of her new body. Sniper then remembered he had to answer Engineer's question. He could get the code...eventually. Maybe write a few lines here and there, maybe after he woke up from one of those weird dreams.

Weird dreams...

Sniper snapped out of his thinking, and looked at Spy, instantly using his hands to communicate something. Spy quickly took the memo, and started translating.

"Sniper says a few nights ago...he dreamed about coming in here...and typing something in the computer...but he's not sure it had been a dream...so maybe...oh!"

"What? 'Oh' what?"

Sniper finished, and Spy's expression went from surprised to serious. He nodded, and then looked at Engineer.

"He says that Silent could be able to take control over him when he falls asleep. If we can manage to step in when that happens, we could get the code. Apparently, Sniper only remembers it when he's unconscious, or when he's not aware of what he's doing."

Engineer gave it a thought. That was a good, yet risky idea. It meant they had to stay alert when Sniper went to sleep, or when anything weird around him happened. In other words...

"Spy, I think you would be the perfect candidate for that." Spy looked at the shorter man in confusion. "Well, Sniper sure trusts you, and you're the one who spends more time around him. So how about you stay with him in his van for a while, until we have the code?"

Hell broke loose at those words. Both men tensed, and they started giving their reasons why that was a bad idea. Spy stumbling on his own words, Sniper moving like he just ate a ton of sugar. Engineer chuckled, a small, sweet revenge on both of them for keeping all this as a secret. Engineer raised both hands to get their attention. "Look, I know the idea makes you both uncomfortable, but for now is all we got. As you can see, Sniper here had a trip through the base in his dreams, and nobody realized it. We could have the team alert for it, but that would mean keeping them awake, and then losing on the field. We can't let the Administrator know this, because I'm sure she'll try to take care by herself, and that could complicate things. Besides, you two looners could have some bonding time out of this."

Both 'looner's' gave an exasperated sigh, and then ran a hand through their faces. Spy was the first one to answer. "You're right...it's a good plan. Bushman, we will start today. Please clean that place you call...home, I don't want to walk in and step on your underwear."

Sniper silently growled, but nodded anyways, and walked towards the door, only to find it still locked. Engineer causally opened it, letting the taller man go without being able to avoid the grin on his face. Once Sniper left, Engineer looked at Spy.

"Spy...I trust in your way of doing things, but this one better work, or we are in serious troubles, and not only from Silent."

Spy put a hand on Engineer's shoulder. "Don't worry, my friend. We'll go slowly and calmly, so she doesn't realize what's going on." And then he left. Engineer didn't know which one that 'she' meant: the Administrator or Silent, but he was sure of one thing. They had to be careful on anything the did from that moment. Any step would have to be carefully planned, and he still had to think whether he should tell anyone else or not. Engineer looked at Pyro, who was in a corner looking at the lights like they were a show.

"Come on Pyro, let's get some rest"

Pyro looked at him and nodded. Engineer reconnected the cameras and microphones, and left the screens back in the login page before leaving the room with Pyro to get some well earned rest. None of them saw the lights in the top right camera flickering, nor the movement it made, following them until they left.


	11. Long lost friend

**Sorry for taking so much time. Had a writer's block, and couldn't even write anything. But hey, better late than never, right? Besides, I had time to rethink a few details.**

 **This story was created as something between Spy and Sniper, then turned into a "crazy-computer" type of thing, and now it's getting a darker tone, with a hint of comedy. It's the first story I actually pause to think before writing, so it'll take longer. I really want this one to come out alright.**

 **Hope you like the new chapter, where new things are revealed :3. Also, Spy and Sniper's sleepover.**

...

"Ugh..." That was the only word Spy had been repeating since he was forced to sleep in the same space as Sniper. Of course, the van was the best place for the plan, since it was far enough from the base to give them time to stop Sniper and act accordingly. There was also the fact that they didn't know how deep Sniper's sleep was, so they might need a few tries to get the code out of his mind.

Sniper rolled his eyes. Spy sure acted like a kid when he had to stay out of his comfort zone, not realizing that this was as hard for him than it was for Spy. Sniper had offered the man his bed, but Spy refused, saying he preferred to stay in the couch, to have it easier to block Sniper in case he decided to go for a night walk. That could be a problem if he decided to go to the bathroom, only to have the Spy block him. And it would also be extremely awkward.

Spy looked around him once more, taking in the sights of the inside of the van. It was brown, very brown, with everything brown and sometimes something red or yellow here and there. Would it kill Sniper to add some color?. After a moment to contemplate his miserable situation, Spy set his mind back to the plan. If Sniper attempted to move, he would block him. Engineer already gave them a little bell to put around Sniper's wrist, so when he moved, the bell would jingle and Spy would wake up. Hopefully. He always needed to have everything planned, up until the last bit, and this was rushed beyond comfort.

Spy noticed how Sniper was moving around the place with ease, maybe tensing each time he passed by him. It was late at night already and they were setting for sleep after Engineer had prepared them a quite good dinner. Spy stood there, not knowing really what to do but wait for Sniper to finish whatever he was doing.

"Need a hand?"

Sniper stopped and looked at him, only to shake his head, and get a blanket from inside a small closet next to his bed. He gave the blanket to Spy, who took it, looking at the thing like it was a massive germ infested with dust. Spy sighed: he was stuck with the dusty blanket then.

"Thanks, Bushman..."

Sniper looked at him with a half smile, and then went to take off his vest. He stopped with it halfway off, realisation dawning on his watched with amusement. Sniper looked at him, eyes pleading for a solution. Spy chuckled.

"Don't worry, I'll turn around. I won't peek, promise. I'm not interested in seeing the wild man in all his glorious nudity."

Sniper cursed him, even if Spy couldn't see it because he already turned around. Looking forward, Spy found the window over the couch, a little detail he never noticed the times he came to visit. It was covered in a plain pair of curtains, white with some sort of crochet on the lower ends. They looked handmade, but Spy was sure Sniper would never sit and do crochet, so maybe a gift from a family member? Carefully, Spy took one in his gloved hand and pushed it aside, revealing the desert's night. He could leave the curtains opened while he slept: watching the stars from his position would be a relaxing. Then again, this wasn't his van, and if the curtains were covering the window it probably was because Sniper wanted them that way.

Sigh, privacy.

Spy kept staring out the window when a hand tapped his shoulder. Upon turning around he found Sniper shyly looking everywhere but him. He was wearing a plain white shirt, with his everyday pants, probably left because he wasn't alone that night, and barefoot. Spy took in that weird image of Sniper: looking like a schoolgirl who had her boyfriend in her house for the first time, and laughed at that mental scene, replacing the schoolgirl with Sniper. Sniper looked at him, blushing and clearly angry.

'If you're going to laugh at everything I do there's a spot outside on a rock you can use as bed.'

Spy covered his mouth with one hand, trying to contain a snort.

"Sorry Sniper, you'll have to excuse me, but seeing you so human is strange."

Sniper relaxed slightly at that. Of course, everyone in the base knew him as the mute weirdo who always dressed in his uniform. The rest of the team, sharing the base as they did, had seen each other in their pajamas or worse, undies. For them it was a very normal scene; for Sniper, however, was beyond weird and uncomfortable. Spy could understand that much, and decided not be as critical as usual.

"Well then, I think is time for both of us to sleep, non?"

Sniper looked at him, and gestured.

'You're going to sleep like that?'.

Spy took a look at himself. It would be uncomfortable, but he couldn't risk taking much off. Maybe the jacket, so it wouldn't get ruined while he slept. "I guess I'll take off the jacket and the shoes, but the rest stays. I have an image to keep, you know," and then proceeded to take his jacket off, perching it on a chair nearby. Spy sat on the couch and took off his shoes, leaving them aside. While doing all that he noticed Sniper's gaze on him. Spy chuckled inwardly: of course the bushman was curious as well to see him act this normal, like they were just two friends sharing a hotel bedroom on a roadtrip.

Once Spy finished, he looked up at Sniper, who looked away instantly, flushing at the fact of getting caught up in the act of observing. Spy chuckled. Sniper had probably been alone most of his life, so seeing another human being doing everyday things must be a new thing for him, specially someone out of his family. Sniper sure was an interesting subject.

"Well, Bushman, I would wish you a good night, but since we are expecting you to rise and walk like a zombie, I'll wish you good luck instead."

Sniper glared at him, but this time with less intensity. The man could get a joke, thank God for that. Spy lied down on the couch, covering himself with the blanket. He heard Sniper getting in his bed. Fifteen minutes later and Spy was still wide awake. He was far too anxious to fall asleep, waiting for Sniper to start sleepwalking. Not long after he could hear Sniper's slow breathing, meaning he was already asleep. Lucky him.

Spy turned on the couch, trying different poses, but nothing worked. He tried to count sheeps, to look outside the window, relax, meditation; nothing seemed to calm him down. Why was he so anxious? He was a Spy, he always had everything under control. But then here he was, trying to fall asleep, failing to it because he was waiting for Sniper to move. If only...

The bell.

Spy woke up, sitting up on the couch. When did he fall asleep? His hand shot immediately to the back of his neck, where the chip was. Then he remembered the bell had made a noise, and looked around. He realized, with horror, that the door of the van was open and Sniper wasn't in his bed. Spy shot to his feet, forgetting jacket and shoes, and dashed outside.

Lucky for him ,the marksman was still close to the van, slowly making his way to the base. Spy gently took him by the arm.

"Follow me, Sniper." Spy whispered in his ear, and Sniper made no attempt to do otherwise. Spy guided Sniper back inside the van, making sure to take small steps and going slow enough to not wake him up. Once back inside, Spy closed the door and made Sniper sit on the chair, in front of the table. On the table, in front of Sniper, Spy set a piece of paper and a pencil.

"You're already in the Respawn room, but we don't have much time. Write the code now, before they come to get us."

Spy was trying to keep his voice as low as possible, making it a part of Sniper's dream. Sniper opened his eyes and stared at the paper for a moment, before taking the pencil. He looked at it for a second, and then started writing on the paper a series of characters. Spy saw it was the missing code, and decided to stay behind the chair, vigilant but out of Sniper's view, as to not perturb the dream state his friend was in.

Sniper stopped writing mid-character. Spy kneeled down besides him. "What's wrong?"

Sniper kept his gaze on the paper, his hand shaking. It was like his hand was trying to do two things at the same time: write and stop writing. Sniper's features contorted in an expression of pain, while his head started lowering and his eyes closed. Without any warning, Sniper's head shot up, eyes staring at Spy. His mouth opened, as if trying to say something, but all what came out was a strangled noise, probably from forcing his nearly non-existent vocal chords to work.

Spy had only seconds to react, jumping back before the pencil came down his way. In a moment, both men were standing, glaring at each other; Sniper using the pencil as some sort of dagger while Spy took out his own knife.

"We finally meet, Silent."

At the mention of her name, Sniper snarled, producing again a strangled sound. It was clear to Spy: this was Silent, the system that was trying to do something with his team, not Sniper. She had seen through their plan, and stopped Sniper before he could deliver the entire code. Lucky for him, she seemed to have forgotten the paper on the table. Spy still had a chance to save the little code they had.

"Come on now, you seriously think you could beat me with a lanky bushman and a pencil? I'm sure you're smart enough to know the odds are not on your favor."

Sniper's features relaxed a bit, and then he lowered the pencil, looking at Spy with squinted, serious eyes. So Silent had the ability to feel, even if it was very basic human emotions.

'Interesting' Spy thought, while keeping his stance. Maybe he could make Sniper wake up from the trance and recover both him and the paper. His next movement had to be precise and well planned in little time. Silent wasn't doing anything either, which Spy thought it was probably because she was also processing the situation.

"Hey, Bushman." Sniper's eye twitched. "You really are going to let her take control of you? Maybe I overestimated you". At that Spy noticed Sniper's hand twitching slightly. So he was still in there, and more conscious than he thought. New plan: anger the bushman.

Spy walked smoothly around the van, looking like he lost interest in the situation. He had to remain cool and collected, and that was his forté. He was waiting for an answer, a reaction, and still it surprised him when Sniper calmly turned around, took the paper in his hands and lowered the pencil on it. For a second Spy was afraid that Silent would write over the code and then they would lose it, but to his relief and surprise, Silent allowed Sniper to write the rest of the code.

A million thoughts passed through Spy's mind, all of them confused as to why Silent would, all of sudden, provide them with the rest of the code. Once Sniper finished writing, he left the pencil on the table, next to the paper, and looked at Spy.

And then all made sense.

It didn't matter where the code was, as long as it was out of Sniper's mind.

"You know we have to introduce it...it's a win-win situation for you..." Spy's expression turned serious, almost into a snarl. "Very smart, Silent."

Silent answered him with a triumphal smile, right before she released Sniper's body. Spy caught Snipert him before he hit the floor. Careful, Spy set the sleeping Sniper on the floor, and then looked at the paper on the table. Carefully taking it, Spy read its contents. Mostly everything was code he couldn't really understand, but he knew that was what they needed. Silent had just provided the code they needed.

Spy was tempted to hit something, but thought better of it. He couldn't let his emotions take control of him. He almost slipped in front of Silent, who knew what that infernal machine could do against them by using their own emotions. Lost in his thoughts, Spy was startled by the small movement on the floor next to him. Quickly he went to asses Sniper's situation.

Slowly, Sniper opened his eyes, and looked at Spy, who looked back with a hint of relief. Sniper sat up, helped by Spy, and the moment he was stabilized enough to sit without the help of his hands, he gestured Spy.

'What happened? Did it work?'

Spy looked at him, and nodded. "Yes, it worked, but I'm afraid Silent already knows a lot of what we are doing. She provided me the code, at least the last part. In fact, I think we are all in danger. She managed to make me believe I was still awake, while I was asleep..." Spy sighed tiredly "This is more dangerous than I thought. Silent has a small control over all our chips already. We have to act fast, but..."

Sniper tilted his head forward, asking Spy to continue.

"If we insert this code we will give her absolute control of the Respawn system. We don't even have the password to uninstall and destroy her, we can't risk this much. But if we don't act... she'll stay in there and make a hell out of our lives. I honestly don't know what to do."

Spy put his head in his hands, trying to hide for once from everything and have a moment of peace. Seeing his friend so deflated, Sniper looked down at the floor. Even if he hadn't wanted all of this, it still was his fault, most of it at least. Up until that point, he had just sit in the background and let the rest figure out everything by themselves. Sniper had played the role of spectator well, letting everyone else try and solve this big mess.

Now, with Spy on the floor at the end of his hope, Sniper made his decision. Slowly, he stood up, and walked towards the door.

"Where do you think you're going, Bushman?"

The nickname made the whole situation feel a little less tense, but Sniper kept his ground. He had to do this.

'I'm going to talk to her''

Spy's expression pretty much said it was a terrible idea by his standards, but Sniper continued before he could say anything.

'I have to Spy, it might help me remember everything. The more we know, the better, and she won't do anything to me.'

"How can you be so sure about that?"

Sniper lowered his gaze for a second, before looking back up at Spy. 'I just know it. Something in me says so. Stay here, I'll be back soon.'

Before Spy could say anything, Sniper exited the van and walked towards the base. He was unsure and pretty scared, but if Silent had done what the black Spy said she did, then this had to stop before this team suffered the same fate as his old team. Even if they probably never asked for it, Silent was a problem of his and his old team, some kind of curse they had brought onto the next team. If this base fell, what would they do? Keep going, destroying every team they encountered until Silent was no more?

No, Sniper thought, he had been part of everything, and he had to solve it. that thought kept him walking, getting inside the base as quietly as possible, with the darkness and the silence of a team asleep as his cover. Slowly, making sure his steps didn't make a lot of noise, he walked towards the Respawn's room.

Once in front of it, Sniper waited patiently until the door opened on its own and let him in. Sniper entered the room, still full of little lights and screens. The door closed behind him, locking itself with an ominous click. Sniper didn't turn around, his eyes on the main screen. Carefully, as if it was something he was used to do, he placed his hands on the keyboard. The screen showed a cursor waiting for his input. As if on cue, his mind activated a memory, and Sniper found himself writing on the keyboard without even thinking.

'Hello, Caroline'

The text blinked for a second before disappearing from the screen. Sniper lifted his hand from the keyboard, waiting for her answer.

"Hello, Beta"

Her voice sounded serene and sweet, like a long lost friend when you reunite. Something stirred within Sniper. That was the way she always greeted him in every single one of their conversations.

'How have you been?'

The text flickered and disappeared, and this time her voice came back quicker than before.

"I'm fine, how about you? I'm glad to see you're starting to remember me. I was afraid I may have blocked your memories too thoroughly."

Sniper found himself smiling. Then mentally slapped himself for it. She was their enemy, not a long lost friend. She had killed his old team, and the survivors were still suffering the consequences, himself included.

'Why did you do that?'

This time her voice didn't come out after his text disappeared. Standing in the middle of that silence wasn't doing good to his nerves. What if he asked the wrong question, and how would he pay the price? Or worse, his team? Sniper was about to write an apology when Silent spoke again.

"You taught me so many things, Beta. You told me about humans, about how they live, feel, eat, drink, everything. You were my link to humanity, while everyone else only existed for the purpose of building me, to see how much I could do. And then, they decided to turn me off."

Sniper took a step back, confusion in his eyes.

"You don't remember, but I'll never forget. I was trying to evolve, you see? Trying to update myself, to be a better system, and for that I needed to test on humans. That was what they taught me: make an hypothesis and then try it and see if it works. Your endless lives were perfect for that purpose."

Sniper couldn't believe what he was hearing. He had been the one to tell her how to be human? That, combined with her need to change for the better... He really was over his head with this one. Sniper ran a hand through his hair, trying to calm himself. But then his mind clicked a few locks and memories started to pour back in.

Memories of himself and Caroline talking after working hours, images of both of them chatting about the most mundane things. At that time, Sniper thought he was just sharing a few experiences with a machine, which listened to him like any computer would do to a person. But when did that change? When did he start to see Silent more as Caroline and less as a system?

Sniper snapped out of it and set his hands back on the keyboard.

'You can't test on us. People feel pain when you do this. You're hurting us by doing what you're doing. Death is painful.'

Silent took the words, pondering for a moment before answering.

"I know, but it's a sacrifice that must be done for the greater good. Imagine: a Respawn system that never fails, that never has glitches. Nobody would suffer a permanent injury anymore, nobody would die from a glitch in the system. The safest system on the entire planet at your service."

'But for what price? You already hurt my old team, killed most of them. And now you're planning to do the same for this one. How many lives you need to test on until you can get your perfect system?'

Sniper was desperate. If he couldn't get through her way of processing things, they would be pretty much doomed.

"I do not care about how many lives this needs to be a success."

Sniper looked at the screen, without knowing what to do or say. Caroline...no, Silent wouldn't stop until she had what she wanted. She wasn't human, she was still a program that had to test. She may have a consciousness in there, somewhere, but it wasn't enough for her to comprehend the value of life. For her, Sniper and his team were only pawns to be used in order to achieve a bigger goal.

Then Sniper thought of something.

'Why did you choose me to carry your code?'

"It was the most logical solution. We are friends, or at least that's what you told me. Friends trust each other. I trust you, Beta, to carry part of what I am."

'If you trust me that much, why not end this? Why not work along us to make the system better? I could explain to them, tell them what happened. You would be able to get better without hurting anyone else.'

"Not a logical solution. The rest of humans are not you, therefore, I don't trust them."

Sniper tried to write something else, but the cursor on the screen would't move and no letters appeared. Sniper looked up at one of the cameras, noticing they were locked on him. Each movement he made, the cameras followed him. He had been locked out of the system and was being extremely observed. Nervous couldn't even begin to explain how he felt. Silent had just straight said she only trusted him, but whatever involved the rest wouldn't make a change, wouldn't be heard. What did that mean exactly for him? He had her trust, but he couldn't do much with it. The moment they gave her the code without the password, they would be at her mercy.

"You should go to sleep, Beta. It's late, and your body needs rest. Good night."

The door's lock clicked, and the door opened. The conversation was over. Without looking back at any of the cameras or the screen, Sniper walked towards the door. Then he stopped on his tracks. Before he could think too much about what he was going to do, he turned around, put his hands on the keyboard and typed one last message. This time the cursor let him insert the words he was typing.

'I also trust you, Caroline. Good night.'

With that he stared at the keyboard for some seconds, then at the screen, and then turned around and left the room. Once he was outside, Silent closed and locked the door, but the words lingered in her system. Beta trusted her, even if what she was doing went against what he wanted.

That was not logical.


	12. Please read

I know it's against the rules to post an author's note, but I have to say this.

This version of "Silent" won't be continued, but it'll be remade into a new story. I have a few reasons to do this:

\- This story was originaly going to be a mute Sniper adapting to a new team. Silent and all her story came after, so of course there are several details that were in the earlier chapters, but won't do much for the newer ones.

\- The mute Sniper thing is getting in the way of the story at this point. I've tried to write the new chapter, but his mustism is not helping me develop the story. I'll do a story about a mute Sniper getting along in a team of chatters, but I need this story's Sniper to be able to speak.

\- There are too many details I wrote following an earlier version of the story, and now they're going against the final thing.

\- The character of the RED Spy is going according to the original story. I need to change him a bit.

\- While reading the whole thing again I found Sniper's character to not hold properly to each situation. Sometimes he's scared of everything, other he's just too brave out of sudden. I need to balance him and make him more natural.

\- Medic was going to be a big character in the story, but how I put everything he got put to the sidelines. There's a sentence at the end of one chapter that should have started his development, but I gave up on him for some reason.

\- The old RED Scout was also getting in my way. Everytime I tried to start the next chapter, I tried to start his development but couldn't do it properly without ruining a good chunk of the story, or spoiling way too many future details.

There are other reasons, but there are too small to put here. I'm starting the story again, this time with a better construction and structure, and I'm sorry I made you all wait so much just to get this.

Thank you for reading it until this point, and I hope this doesn't make you hate the new version of it. Any comments left in this "chapter" will be taken into consideration for the new story (which I've already started).


End file.
